Happy Birthday, Johann Pachelbel! And Thanks For “Canon in D”!

Johann Pachelbel was born on September 1, 1653. More than three centuries later, his music is widely recognized and popular at weddings, graduations and other formal occasions. He is best known for composing Canon in D, a composition for 3 violins and a basso continuo that has been sampled, adapted and re-written to form the basis of many popular songs in genres ranging from hip hop to alternative rock.

Pachelbel was first introduced to music through his church. He was taught initially by Heinrich Schweemmer, who became the cantor at a local cathedral. When he completed his primary education he attended the University of Altdorf and became the organist of St Lorenz Hauptschule in Nuremburg. He was forced to drop out due to financial difficulties and took a scholarship at the Gymnasium Poeticum. The Gymnasium was over capacity and not accepting new students, but they were so impressed with Pachelbel’s musical talents that they took him in on scholarship anyway.

Pachelbel quickly rose within the world of music during his lifetime. By the time he was 20 he was living in Vienna, the cultural and musical capital of the time. He quickly became the deputy organist at the Saint Stephen Cathedral, a famous and influential church. Pachelbel took the time he was an organist in Vienna to absorb everything he could about the music of the Catholic church and learn from the different regional styles that all influenced Viennese music.

After moving out and experiencing some family trauma, Pachelbel found himself living in Erfurt. He befriended the Bach family and became renowned as a virtuoso organist. He was especially famous for writing chorale preludes, short pieces of organ music used to introduce hymns during church services.

In 1690, at roughly the age of 40, Pachelbel became restless and left Erfurt. He traveled to Stuttgart and took the patronage of a Duchess for two years before he was displaced by the War of the Grand Alliance. He then became the town organist of Gotha for two years before publishing his first liturgical music collection. During this time he declined a position at Oxford University.

Pachelbel’s fame continued to grow. When the St Sebaldus church in Nuremburg suffered the death of its organist, they offered the position immediately to Pachelbel based on his fame alone. Pachelbel accepted and lived out the rest of his life in Nuremburg, continuing to publish music of all sorts. His collections enjoyed great popularity within his lifetime.

Pachelbel died somewhere between March 3 and 7th, 1706 at the age of 52. He was buried in St Rochus Cemetery in Nuremburg.

Pachelbel’s most famous piece, the Canon in D, rose to popularity in modern times after a recording by Jean-Francois Paillard in 1970, although the harmonies snuck onto music charts when they were used in songs such as the Bee Gees “Spicks and Specks” and Ralph McTell’s “Streets of London” in the second half of the 1960’s. Canon in D was sampled in Coolio’s “C U When U Get There” and experienced a surge in popularity in 2005 with the internet hit “Canon Rock.” The I-V-vi-iii-IV-I-IV-V progression used in Canon in D has been borrowed from extensively and remains a staple of popular music today.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rNsgHMklBW0
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