Johann Pachelbel (1653 - 1706)

Johann Pachelbel was born in and died in Nuremberg in Germany. He was a leading organist and composer of his day, and an influence on J. S. Bach. He was a friend of the Bach family and taught Johann Sebastian's elder brother Johann Christoph who in turn taught his younger brother. Pachelbel's career as organist included a post at St. Stephen's Cathedral in Vienna, and also at the courts of Eisenach and Stuttgart. His sons (Wilhelm Hieronymus and Carl Theodore) were also destined to follow in Pachelbel's footsteps as organists and composers in their own right.

Pachelbel's music

Pachelbel's music too was also a foretaste of Bach's in some ways. He composed keyboard suites, toccatas, preludes, and a vast number of fugues for the organ. He also composed much chamber music for different combinations of instruments (including 6 suites for two violins) and choral works including motets and choral preludes. His music is said to have pioneered symbolism by using certain scales and chords to represent particular moods.

By far his most famous work is the Canon and Gigue in D major for three violins and Basso continuo. The Canon part of this work (often called simply "Canon in D" or "Pachelbel's Canon") is particularly popular and has been arranged and performed in diverse ways. To represent Pachelbel's music on mfiles we have two slightly simplified arrangements of his famous "Canon in D".

This version is for piano: Canon in D for piano (You can also download this as piano Sheet Music, as a MIDI file or as an MP3 file);

And this version is for four recorders: Canon in D for 4 recorders (You can also download this as a Sheet Music Score, parts for Soprano, Alto, Tenor and Bass recorders, as a MIDI file or as an MP3 file).