Pachelbel’s Canon with period instruments [Voices of Music]

San Francisco-based early music ensemble Voices of Music performs Pachelbel’s Canon in D Major with period instruments. The piece remained forgotten for centuries like most other works by Pachelbel and other pre-1700 composers, and was rediscovered only in the 20th century, and became extremely popular.

Note: The baroque pitch used here, which is A=415.3 Hz when modern pitch is usually A=440 Hz. So it sounds like D-flat here. The Voices of Music version is based on the earliest original manuscript and performed on instruments from the time of the German composer, organist, and teacher Johann Pachelbel (baptized September 1, 1653 – buried March 9, 1706).

Pachelbel’s Canon

A Canon (or Kanon) is a contrapuntal compositional technique characterized by imitation and repetition. First one instrument or vocal introduces a part of the melody. Then, after a number of tones, a second instrument or vocal starts to repeat, or imitate, the first melody, playing the exact same tones, but with a time delay. More instruments or vocals may then be added, depending on the composer’s wishes.

Johann Pachelbel composed a large body of sacred and secular music, and his creations enjoyed enormous popularity during his lifetime; he had many pupils and his music became a model for the composers of south and central Germany.

Pachelbel composed this Canon as early as 1680. But, in the following centuries, the piece has been forgotten. It was rediscovered and first published in 1919 by scholar Gustav Beckmann. Since then, the piece has become more and more popular. After appearing in Ordinary People, the 1980 American drama film that marked the directorial debut of actor Robert Redford, its popularity boosted.

Pachelbel’s canon was particularly prevalent in the pop charts of the 1990s, being sampled and appropriated in numerous commercial hits such as Pet Shop Boys’ cover of “Go West“, Coolio’s “C U When U Get There“, Green Day’s “Basket Case“, and Dire Straits’ “Tunnel of love“. It is frequently played at weddings and included in classical music compilations.

Sources

• Johann Pachelbel on Wikipedia
• Pachelbel’s Cannon on Wikipedia
• Johann Pachelbel’s Canon website