Johann Pachelbel: Canon In D

While Pachelbel has been most admired as a composer of organ works and Lutheran church music his Canon in D has long been one of his most celebrated compositions. It combines two time-honored compositional devices. The first of these is of course the canon a procedure whereby a melody in one part is strictly imitated by one or more other parts; a round (such as for example Frère Jacques) is a type of canon. The second device involves a short bass line (refeered to as a ground bass) that is repeated constandly over which the composer writes continuous variations. In its original form the work consists of an initial statement of an eight note ground bass followed by27 variations in strict canonic style for three violins above that bass. In addition to these four essential parts an appropriate harmonic background would have been improvised on harpsichord lute or organ. In the present arrangement Pachelbel's note values have been doubled for greater ease of reading and the work's canonic structure has been somewhat modified in order to make it more readily playable by violinists and pianists at an intermediate level. Since dynamics bowing indications articulations and slurs were not customarily provided by composer of the Baroque era the arranger and the editor have added them here as well as a metronome indication and a few cadential trills. Obviously these editorial additions should be regarded only as suggestions.

Canon in D is the most famous piece of music by Johann Pachelbel, written in or around 1680 as a piece of chamber music for three violins and basso continuo. Willard A. Palmer's simplified arrangement is for the intermediate pianist. / Piano

Pachelbel???s exuberant and justly famous Canon may well have been first heard at the wedding of Johann Christoph Bach. Originally for small ensemble Mary Cohen???s new arrangement of the work for solo piano or keyboard will suit players moving from easy towards intermediate repertoire.

With this work Pachelbel who was born in Nuremberg created one of the most popular orchestral pieces of the baroque period. In the canon two of the strictest contrapuntal forms are combined: The three violin parts form an extensive canon with entries of two bars distance. To this a ground bass (basso ostinato) has been added repeating its two-bar tone formula 28 times. The technical mastery of the piece can be ad-mired just as much as its effect lies in the melodic and sensuous power of its string tones. The modest technical demands on the musicians are diametrically opposed to the compositional level: they do not go beyond the third position.

Arranged for Organ by Nigel Ogden Among the all-time classical favourites and an essential item in any church organist's library of service music Pachelbel's Canon in D receives a fresh and original makeover in this new arrangement by the celebrated recitalist and radio host Nigel Ogden. Scored by the composer for an ensemble of three violins and bass the piece adapts beautifully for performance on the organ. Ogden's treatment retains all the soothing melodious character of the original masterpiece while falling easily within the range of amateur players who are able to manage a simple pedal part.