Pachelbel Canon

Johann Pachelbel and his famous piece Canon (or Kanon). It is a baroque piece of music and has been interpreted by many, even found in modern pop songs. Canon is often recognized but sometimes not known by it's name or composer. It is very popular at weddings, especially in the USA.

Johann Pachelbel lived between 1653-1706. In 1671 at the age of 18, he moved to Vienna (Austria) where he became a student. In 1692 he moved to Nuremburg where he lived until his death in 1706.

What does Canon mean then? Well not Cannon as many misinterpret it. Canon (or Kanon) is when a piece of music is imitated and repeated. First one instrument or vocal starts with a piece of the melody. Then after a number of tones, a second instrument or vocal starts to repeat, or imitate, the first one, playing the exact same tones, but with a time delay. More instruments or vocals may fill in depending on the composers wishes.

Johann Pachelbel began his musical instruction under Schwemmer and later at the Universities of Altdorf and Ratisbon. In 1671 Johann moved to Vienna where he became student and deputy organist to Kerll at the Imperial chapel. In 1677 he was organist for one year in Eisenach--the city of Bach's birth eight years later. The following year he moved to Erfurt, where his son, Hieronymus, was born. While in Erfurt he taught Johann Christoph Bach, Sebastian's older brother and guardian in Ohrdruf when the Bach parents died. In 1690 Pachelbel became court organist at Stuttgart. Two years later Johann took his final post, in Nuremburg. Johann Pachelbel's repertory is the stylistic ancestor of J. S. Bach's, particularly his technique of chorale variation. Carl Philipp Emanuel named Pachelbel as a composer whose works his father had admired.