Canon in D
Encyclopedia
Pachelbel's Canon is the most famous piece of music by German Baroque
composer Johann Pachelbel
. It was originally scored for three violins and basso continuo and paired with a gigue
in the same key
. Like most other works by Pachelbel and other pre-1700 composers, the Canon remained forgotten for centuries and was rediscovered only in the 20th century. Several decades after it was first published in 1919, the piece became extremely popular, and today it is frequently played at weddings and included on classical music compilations, along with other famous Baroque pieces such as Air on the G String
by Johann Sebastian Bach
.
(contemporary sources praise his serenades and sonatas), most of them were lost. Only Musikalische Ergötzung, a collection of partita
s published during Pachelbel's lifetime, is known, and a few isolated pieces in manuscripts. Canon and Gigue in D major is one of such pieces. A single manuscript copy of it survives, Mus.MS 16481 in the Berlin State Library
, which contains two more chamber suites; another copy, previously kept in Hochschule der Künste
in Berlin, is now lost. The circumstances of the piece's composition are wholly unknown. One writer hypothesized that the Canon may have been composed for Johann Christoph Bach
's wedding, on 23 October 1694, which Pachelbel attended. The music for the occasion was provided by Johann Ambrosius Bach
, Pachelbel, and other friends and family members. Johann Christoph Bach, the oldest brother of Johann Sebastian Bach
, was a former pupil of Pachelbel.
The Canon (without the accompanying gigue) was first published in 1919 by scholar Gustav Beckmann, who included the score in his article on Pachelbel's chamber music. His research was inspired and supported by renowned early music scholar and editor Max Seiffert
, who in 1929 published his arrangement of Canon and Gigue in his Organum series. However, that edition contained numerous articulation
marks and dynamics
not found in the original score; furthermore, Seiffert provided tempi which he considered right for the piece, but which were not supported by later research. The Canon was first recorded in 1940 by Arthur Fiedler
, and the first famous recording of the piece was made by the Jean-François Paillard
chamber orchestra.
Over the years, the Canon has been arranged numerous times for a wide variety of ensembles. A non-original viola
pizzicato
part is also commonly added (in a string orchestra
or quartet
setting) when a harpsichord
or organ player is not used to improvise harmonies over the bass line. The Canons chord progression
is used in many pop and rock songs, but it is debatable whether it was deliberately used, because I -V-vi-iii-IV-I-ii-V is a very common progression., For example, the piano break composed by George Martin
for the Lennon–McCartney song "In My Life
", from The Beatles
album Rubber Soul
(1965)), has the same harmonic rhythm. The gigue that originally accompanied the canon never received the same amount of popularity, even though it is a lively and energetic dance.
and ground bass. Canon is a polyphonic device in which several voices play the same music, entering in sequence. In Pachelbel's piece, there are three voices engaged in canon (see Example 1), but there is also a fourth voice, the basso continuo, which plays an independent part.
The bass voice keeps repeating the same two-bar line throughout the piece. The common musical term for this is ostinato, or ground bass (see Example 2). The chord
s suggested by this bass are:
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Similar sequences appear elsewhere in classical music. Handel
used it for the main theme and all variations thereof throughout the second movement of his Organ Concerto Op. 7 No. 5 in G minor, HWV 310. Mozart
employed it both for a passage in Die Zauberflöte (1791), at the moment where the three boys first appear and in the last movement of his Piano Concerto No. 23
in A major, K. 488 (1786). He may have learned the sequence from Haydn
, who had used it in the minuet
of his string quartet
Opus 50 No. 2, composed in 1785. Neither Handel's, nor Haydn's, nor Mozart's passage is an exact harmonic match to Pachelbel's, the latter two both deviating in the last bar, and may in fact have arisen more prosaically from one of the more obvious harmonizations of a descending major scale. This sequence is known as a plagal sequence.
In Germany, Italy, and France of the 17th century, some pieces built on ground bass were called chaconne
s or passacaglia
s; such ground-bass works sometimes incorporate some form of variation
in the upper voices. While some writers consider each of the 28 statements of the ground bass a separate variation, one scholar finds that Pachelbel's canon is constructed of just 12 variations, each four bars long, and describes them as follows:
Pachelbel's Canon thus merges a strict polyphonic form (the canon) and a variation form (the chaconne, which itself is a mixture of ground bass composition and variations). In this regard it is similar to the 13th century round
Sumer Is Icumen In
. Pachelbel skillfully constructs the variations to make them both pleasing and subtly undetectable.
Baroque
The Baroque is a period and the style that used exaggerated motion and clear, easily interpreted detail to produce drama, tension, exuberance, and grandeur in sculpture, painting, literature, dance, and music...
composer Johann Pachelbel
Johann Pachelbel
Johann Pachelbel was a German Baroque composer, organist and teacher, who brought the south German organ tradition to its peak. He composed a large body of sacred and secular music, and his contributions to the development of the chorale prelude and fugue have earned him a place among the most...
. It was originally scored for three violins and basso continuo and paired with a gigue
Gigue
The gigue or giga is a lively baroque dance originating from the British jig. It was imported into France in the mid-17th century and usually appears at the end of a suite...
in the same key
Key (music)
In music theory, the term key is used in many different and sometimes contradictory ways. A common use is to speak of music as being "in" a specific key, such as in the key of C major or in the key of F-sharp. Sometimes the terms "major" or "minor" are appended, as in the key of A minor or in the...
. Like most other works by Pachelbel and other pre-1700 composers, the Canon remained forgotten for centuries and was rediscovered only in the 20th century. Several decades after it was first published in 1919, the piece became extremely popular, and today it is frequently played at weddings and included on classical music compilations, along with other famous Baroque pieces such as Air on the G String
Air on the G String
The "Air on the G String" is an adaptation by August Wilhelmj of the Air, the second movement from Johann Sebastian Bach's Orchestral Suite No...
by Johann Sebastian Bach
Johann Sebastian Bach
Johann Sebastian Bach was a German composer, organist, harpsichordist, violist, and violinist whose sacred and secular works for choir, orchestra, and solo instruments drew together the strands of the Baroque period and brought it to its ultimate maturity...
.
History
Although Pachelbel was renowned in his lifetime for his chamber worksChamber music
Chamber music is a form of classical music, written for a small group of instruments which traditionally could be accommodated in a palace chamber. Most broadly, it includes any art music that is performed by a small number of performers with one performer to a part...
(contemporary sources praise his serenades and sonatas), most of them were lost. Only Musikalische Ergötzung, a collection of partita
Partita
Partita was originally the name for a single instrumental piece of music , but Johann Kuhnau and later German composers used it for collections of musical pieces, as a synonym for suite.Johann Sebastian Bach wrote two sets of Partitas for different instruments...
s published during Pachelbel's lifetime, is known, and a few isolated pieces in manuscripts. Canon and Gigue in D major is one of such pieces. A single manuscript copy of it survives, Mus.MS 16481 in the Berlin State Library
Berlin State Library
The Berlin State Library is a library in Berlin, Germany and a property of the Prussian Cultural Heritage Foundation.-Buildings:The State Library runs several premises, three of which are open for users, namely House 1 in Unter den Linden 8, House 2 in Potsdamer Straße 33 and the newspaper archive...
, which contains two more chamber suites; another copy, previously kept in Hochschule der Künste
Berlin University of the Arts
The Universität der Künste Berlin, UdK is a public art school in Berlin, Germany, one of the four universities in the city...
in Berlin, is now lost. The circumstances of the piece's composition are wholly unknown. One writer hypothesized that the Canon may have been composed for Johann Christoph Bach
Johann Christoph Bach (1671–1721)
Johann Christoph Bach , was a German musician and composer. He was the eldest brother of the more famous German musician and composer Johann Sebastian Bach. Johann Christoph studied at Erfurt under Johann Pachelbel, and his library of keyboard music included works by Pachelbel, Johann Jakob...
's wedding, on 23 October 1694, which Pachelbel attended. The music for the occasion was provided by Johann Ambrosius Bach
Johann Ambrosius Bach
Johann Ambrosius Bach was a German composer, father to Johann Sebastian Bach.The son of Christoph Bach , Ambrosius was born in Erfurt, Germany as the twin brother of Johann Christoph Bach...
, Pachelbel, and other friends and family members. Johann Christoph Bach, the oldest brother of Johann Sebastian Bach
Johann Sebastian Bach
Johann Sebastian Bach was a German composer, organist, harpsichordist, violist, and violinist whose sacred and secular works for choir, orchestra, and solo instruments drew together the strands of the Baroque period and brought it to its ultimate maturity...
, was a former pupil of Pachelbel.
The Canon (without the accompanying gigue) was first published in 1919 by scholar Gustav Beckmann, who included the score in his article on Pachelbel's chamber music. His research was inspired and supported by renowned early music scholar and editor Max Seiffert
Max Seiffert
Max Seiffert was a German musicologist and music arranger.-Biography:Seiffert was born in Beeskow an der Spree, Germany; and died in Schleswig, Germany. He was first educated at the Joachimsthal Gymnasium at Berlin, and then at the University of Berlin where he received a Ph.D. in 1891 for the...
, who in 1929 published his arrangement of Canon and Gigue in his Organum series. However, that edition contained numerous articulation
Articulation (music)
In music, articulation refers to the musical direction performance technique which affects the transition or continuity on a single note or between multiple notes or sounds.- Types of articulations :...
marks and dynamics
Dynamics (music)
In music, dynamics normally refers to the volume of a sound or note, but can also refer to every aspect of the execution of a given piece, either stylistic or functional . The term is also applied to the written or printed musical notation used to indicate dynamics...
not found in the original score; furthermore, Seiffert provided tempi which he considered right for the piece, but which were not supported by later research. The Canon was first recorded in 1940 by Arthur Fiedler
Arthur Fiedler
Arthur Fiedler was a long-time conductor of the Boston Pops Orchestra, a symphony orchestra that specializes in popular and light classical music. With a combination of musicianship and showmanship, he made the Boston Pops one of the best-known orchestras in the country...
, and the first famous recording of the piece was made by the Jean-François Paillard
Jean-François Paillard
Jean-François Paillard is a French conductor.He was born in Vitry-le-François and received his musical training at the Paris Conservatory, where he won first prize in music history, and the Salzburg Mozarteum....
chamber orchestra.
Over the years, the Canon has been arranged numerous times for a wide variety of ensembles. A non-original viola
Viola
The viola is a bowed string instrument. It is the middle voice of the violin family, between the violin and the cello.- Form :The viola is similar in material and construction to the violin. A full-size viola's body is between and longer than the body of a full-size violin , with an average...
pizzicato
Pizzicato
Pizzicato is a playing technique that involves plucking the strings of a string instrument. The exact technique varies somewhat depending on the type of stringed instrument....
part is also commonly added (in a string orchestra
String orchestra
A string orchestra is an orchestra composed solely or primarily of instruments from the string family. These instruments are the violin, the viola, the cello, the double bass , the piano, the harp, and sometimes percussion...
or quartet
String quartet
A string quartet is a musical ensemble of four string players – usually two violin players, a violist and a cellist – or a piece written to be performed by such a group...
setting) when a harpsichord
Harpsichord
A harpsichord is a musical instrument played by means of a keyboard. It produces sound by plucking a string when a key is pressed.In the narrow sense, "harpsichord" designates only the large wing-shaped instruments in which the strings are perpendicular to the keyboard...
or organ player is not used to improvise harmonies over the bass line. The Canons chord progression
Chord progression
A chord progression is a series of musical chords, or chord changes that "aims for a definite goal" of establishing a tonality founded on a key, root or tonic chord. In other words, the succession of root relationships...
is used in many pop and rock songs, but it is debatable whether it was deliberately used, because I -V-vi-iii-IV-I-ii-V is a very common progression., For example, the piano break composed by George Martin
George Martin
Sir George Henry Martin CBE is an English record producer, arranger, composer and musician. He is sometimes referred to as "the Fifth Beatle"— a title that he often describes as "nonsense," but the fact remains that he served as producer on all but one of The Beatles' original albums...
for the Lennon–McCartney song "In My Life
In My Life
"In My Life" is a song by The Beatles written by John Lennon and Paul McCartney . The song originated with Lennon, and while Paul McCartney contributed to the final version, the extent of his contribution is in dispute. George Martin contributed the instrumental bridge...
", from The Beatles
The Beatles
The Beatles were an English rock band, active throughout the 1960s and one of the most commercially successful and critically acclaimed acts in the history of popular music. Formed in Liverpool, by 1962 the group consisted of John Lennon , Paul McCartney , George Harrison and Ringo Starr...
album Rubber Soul
Rubber Soul
Rubber Soul is the sixth studio album by the English rock group The Beatles, released in December 1965. Produced by George Martin, Rubber Soul had been recorded in just over four weeks to make the Christmas market...
(1965)), has the same harmonic rhythm. The gigue that originally accompanied the canon never received the same amount of popularity, even though it is a lively and energetic dance.
Analysis
Pachelbel's Canon combines the techniques of canonCanon (music)
In music, a canon is a contrapuntal composition that employs a melody with one or more imitations of the melody played after a given duration . The initial melody is called the leader , while the imitative melody, which is played in a different voice, is called the follower...
and ground bass. Canon is a polyphonic device in which several voices play the same music, entering in sequence. In Pachelbel's piece, there are three voices engaged in canon (see Example 1), but there is also a fourth voice, the basso continuo, which plays an independent part.
Chord (music)
A chord in music is any harmonic set of two–three or more notes that is heard as if sounding simultaneously. These need not actually be played together: arpeggios and broken chords may for many practical and theoretical purposes be understood as chords...
s suggested by this bass are:
| chord | scale degree | roman numeral | |
| 1 | D major | tonic Tonic (music) In music, the tonic is the first scale degree of the diatonic scale and the tonal center or final resolution tone. The triad formed on the tonic note, the tonic chord, is thus the most significant chord... |
I |
| 2 | A major | dominant Dominant (music) In music, the dominant is the fifth scale degree of the diatonic scale, called "dominant" because it is next in importance to the tonic,and a dominant chord is any chord built upon that pitch, using the notes of the same diatonic scale... |
V |
| 3 | B minor | submediant Submediant In music, the submediant is the sixth scale degree of the diatonic scale, the 'lower mediant' halfway between the tonic and the subdominant or 'lower dominant'... |
vi |
| 4 | F minor | mediant Mediant In music, the mediant is the third scale degree of the diatonic scale, being the note halfway between the tonic and the dominant. Similarly, the submediant is halfway between the tonic and subdominant... |
iii |
| 5 | G major | subdominant Subdominant In music, the subdominant is the technical name for the fourth tonal degree of the diatonic scale. It is so called because it is the same distance "below" the tonic as the dominant is above the tonic - in other words, the tonic is the dominant of the subdominant. It is also the note immediately... |
IV |
| 6 | D major | tonic | I |
| 7 | G major | subdominant | IV |
| 8 | A major | dominant | V |
Similar sequences appear elsewhere in classical music. Handel
George Frideric Handel
George Frideric Handel was a German-British Baroque composer, famous for his operas, oratorios, anthems and organ concertos. Handel was born in 1685, in a family indifferent to music...
used it for the main theme and all variations thereof throughout the second movement of his Organ Concerto Op. 7 No. 5 in G minor, HWV 310. Mozart
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart , baptismal name Johannes Chrysostomus Wolfgangus Theophilus Mozart , was a prolific and influential composer of the Classical era. He composed over 600 works, many acknowledged as pinnacles of symphonic, concertante, chamber, piano, operatic, and choral music...
employed it both for a passage in Die Zauberflöte (1791), at the moment where the three boys first appear and in the last movement of his Piano Concerto No. 23
Piano Concerto No. 23 (Mozart)
The Piano Concerto No. 23 in A major is a musical composition for piano and orchestra written by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. It was finished, according to Mozart's own catalogue, on March 2, 1786, around the time of the premiere of his opera, The Marriage of Figaro...
in A major, K. 488 (1786). He may have learned the sequence from Haydn
Joseph Haydn
Franz Joseph Haydn , known as Joseph Haydn , was an Austrian composer, one of the most prolific and prominent composers of the Classical period. He is often called the "Father of the Symphony" and "Father of the String Quartet" because of his important contributions to these forms...
, who had used it in the minuet
Minuet
A minuet, also spelled menuet, is a social dance of French origin for two people, usually in 3/4 time. The word was adapted from Italian minuetto and French menuet, and may have been from French menu meaning slender, small, referring to the very small steps, or from the early 17th-century popular...
of his string quartet
String quartet
A string quartet is a musical ensemble of four string players – usually two violin players, a violist and a cellist – or a piece written to be performed by such a group...
Opus 50 No. 2, composed in 1785. Neither Handel's, nor Haydn's, nor Mozart's passage is an exact harmonic match to Pachelbel's, the latter two both deviating in the last bar, and may in fact have arisen more prosaically from one of the more obvious harmonizations of a descending major scale. This sequence is known as a plagal sequence.
In Germany, Italy, and France of the 17th century, some pieces built on ground bass were called chaconne
Chaconne
A chaconne ; is a type of musical composition popular in the baroque era when it was much used as a vehicle for variation on a repeated short harmonic progression, often involving a fairly short repetitive bass-line which offered a compositional outline for variation, decoration, figuration and...
s or passacaglia
Passacaglia
The passacaglia is a musical form that originated in early seventeenth-century Spain and is still used by contemporary composers. It is usually of a serious character and is often, but not always, based on a bass-ostinato and written in triple metre....
s; such ground-bass works sometimes incorporate some form of variation
Variation (music)
In music, variation is a formal technique where material is repeated in an altered form. The changes may involve harmony, melody, counterpoint, rhythm, timbre, orchestration or any combination of these.-Variation form:...
in the upper voices. While some writers consider each of the 28 statements of the ground bass a separate variation, one scholar finds that Pachelbel's canon is constructed of just 12 variations, each four bars long, and describes them as follows:
- quarter noteQuarter noteA quarter note or crotchet is a note played for one quarter of the duration of a whole note . Often people will say that a crotchet is one beat, however, this is not always correct, as the beat is indicated by the time signature of the music; a quarter note may or may not be the beat...
s - eighth noteEighth notethumb|180px|right|Figure 1. An eighth note with stem facing up, an eighth note with stem facing down, and an eighth rest.thumb|right|180px|Figure 2. Four eighth notes beamed together....
s - sixteenth noteSixteenth notethumb|right|Figure 1. A sixteenth note with stem facing up, a sixteenth note with stem facing down, and a sixteenth rest.thumb|right|Figure 2. Four sixteenth notes beamed together....
s - leaping quarter notes, rest
- 32nd-note pattern on scalar melody
- staccatoStaccatoStaccato is a form of musical articulation. In modern notation it signifies a note of shortened duration and separated from the note that may follow by silence...
, eighth notes and rests - sixteenth noteSixteenth notethumb|right|Figure 1. A sixteenth note with stem facing up, a sixteenth note with stem facing down, and a sixteenth rest.thumb|right|Figure 2. Four sixteenth notes beamed together....
extensions of melody with upper neighbor notes - repetitive sixteenth noteSixteenth notethumb|right|Figure 1. A sixteenth note with stem facing up, a sixteenth note with stem facing down, and a sixteenth rest.thumb|right|Figure 2. Four sixteenth notes beamed together....
patterns - dottedDotted noteIn Western musical notation, a dotted note is a note with a small dot written after it. The dot increases the duration of the basic note by half of its original value. If the basic note lasts 2 beats, the corresponding dotted note lasts 3 beats...
rhythms - dotted rhythms and 16th-note patterns on upper neighbor notes
- syncopatedSyncopationIn music, syncopation includes a variety of rhythms which are in some way unexpected in that they deviate from the strict succession of regularly spaced strong and weak but also powerful beats in a meter . These include a stress on a normally unstressed beat or a rest where one would normally be...
quarter and eighth notes rhythm - eighth-note octave leaps
Pachelbel's Canon thus merges a strict polyphonic form (the canon) and a variation form (the chaconne, which itself is a mixture of ground bass composition and variations). In this regard it is similar to the 13th century round
Round (music)
A round is a musical composition in which two or more voices sing exactly the same melody , but with each voice beginning at different times so that different parts of the melody coincide in the different voices, but nevertheless fit harmoniously together...
Sumer Is Icumen In
Sumer Is Icumen In
"Sumer Is Icumen In" is a traditional English round, and possibly the oldest such example of counterpoint in existence. The title might be translated as "Summer has come in" or "Summer has arrived"....
. Pachelbel skillfully constructs the variations to make them both pleasing and subtly undetectable.
External links
- Free typeset arrangements of Canon in D from Cantorion.org
- Midi-files, videos, sheet resources, a discussion board and a collection of modern songs inspired by Pachelbel's Canon from pachelbelcanon.com
- Video of a historical performance of the Canon on original instruments by the ensembleMusical ensembleA musical ensemble is a group of people who perform instrumental or vocal music. In classical music, trios or quartets either blend the sounds of musical instrument families or group together instruments from the same instrument family, such as string ensembles or wind ensembles...
Voices of Music using baroqueBaroqueThe Baroque is a period and the style that used exaggerated motion and clear, easily interpreted detail to produce drama, tension, exuberance, and grandeur in sculpture, painting, literature, dance, and music...
instruments, bows, and playing techniques. - Video of Canon in D as played by the Apollo Symphony Orchestra
- Harmony and voice leading of the ›Pachelbelsequenz‹. (German tutorial) musiktheorie-aktuell.de
- Rock/neo-classical arrangement video of Pachelbel's Canon in D-major by TaiwanTaiwanTaiwan , also known, especially in the past, as Formosa , is the largest island of the same-named island group of East Asia in the western Pacific Ocean and located off the southeastern coast of mainland China. The island forms over 99% of the current territory of the Republic of China following...
ese musician and composer JerryCJerryCJerryC , also known by his English name Jerry Chang, is a Taiwanese guitarist and composer. He is best known for his song "Canon Rock", a rock arrangement of Johann Pachelbel's Canon in D. He began playing the guitar at the age of 17, and the piano before age 15... - "Pachelbel Rant" by Rob Paravonian