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Composer in the library

Johann Pachelbel

From “Canon in D”, measure 9.

Johann Pachelbel is represented here through music from the Baroque period. His surviving keyboard and chamber music reaches beyond the familiar Canon. The library currently includes 1 piece by Johann Pachelbel.

Pieces in the library

  1. Canon in D

    An intermediate piece from the Baroque period, in D major, and about 4 minutes and 30 seconds to play.

    A single 8-bar bass line repeated unchanged underneath an unfolding set of variations — the same harmonic loop for the entire piece, so the interest is entirely in how the melody above it keeps reinventing itself, from simple half-notes to rippling 16th-note runs. Written for three violins and continuo around 1680, all but forgotten for two centuries, and now one of the most-played pieces of music at weddings worldwide.

    Open score