Canon by Johann Pachelbel

Ever heard of Johann Pachelbel and his famous Canon in D? Well, Pachelbel was an acclaimed 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 important composers of the middle Baroque.

Today Pachelbel is best known for his Canon in D; it is the only canon he wrote, and is somewhat unrepresentative of the rest of his oeuvre.

The Canon in D major (full German title: Kanon und Gigue in D-Dur für drei Violinen und Basso Continuo or Canon and Gigue in D major for three Violins with Bass Accompaniment) was written in or around 1680, during the Baroque period, as a piece of chamber music for three violins and basso continuo, but has since been arranged for a wide variety of ensembles.

The Canon in D is a strict three-part melodic canon based, both harmonically and structurally, on a two-measure (or -bar) ground bass:




The same two-bar bass line and harmonic sequence is repeated over and over, about 50 times in total. The chords of this sequence are: D major (tonic), A major (dominant), B minor (tonic parallel or submediant — the relative minor tonic), F♯ minor (dominant parallel or mediant — the relative minor dominant), G major (subdominant), D major (tonic), G major (subdominant), and A major (dominant).

Now, here is why musicians sometimes don't like Pachelbels Canon:



And here how the Canon was not intended to be played:



Find that boy a band and give him a contract!

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Source: Wikipedia