I Don't Know About You

Damn, it certainly is!

The Canon and Giga in D major for three violins and basso continuo was one of the first scores that I read and tried to perform!

And then, immediately searching for performances to improve, and there are plenty of them!

Not only that, but there are also dozens and dozens of citations, even scholarly ones, of the piece and many imitations.

Look on

Johann Pachelbel's Canon

And here is a performance with the original instrumentation.

Open content (youtube)

Yes. I join in too. I find this canon absolutely splendid, as you said, it fills one with emotion. I have had the opportunity to listen to several versions of this piece, including that of the great Karajan... I believe that among the next pieces I intend to study, this one should be added... I will let you know.

But when was this canon truly written? Who can enlighten us about Pachelbel's period and in particular about this canon?

Unfortunately, Francesco, the answer to your question cannot be exhausted in just a few lines!

So, here is just a quick flash.

The Canon, whose actual title is Canon and Giga in D major for three violins and basso continuo, is a musical composition written by the German cleric and musician Johann Pachelbel almost certainly in 1680, in the height of the Baroque era, as part of a chamber music composition for three violins and basso continuo.

The composition remained forgotten over the centuries and was only rediscovered and published at the beginning of the 1900s, becoming very famous a few decades later and performed on frequent solemn occasions, such as ceremonies and weddings. The Giga has not had the same fortune, even though it is nonetheless a beautiful composition.

Precisely in the years when he composed the Canon, Pachelbel had the opportunity to teach the brothers Johann Christoph and Johann Sebastian Bach, at the invitation of their father Ambrosius. Regarding this, it is said that Christoph had forbidden his younger brother from reading Pachelbel's works, so Sebastian would go to Christoph's study at night for a long time to copy the manuscript, as he was so struck by the master's music! It is said that the Canon was written specifically on the occasion of Johann Christoph's wedding, but this claim is not supported by any historical evidence.

The theme derives from a giga whose resonances were already present in the Folía de España (also known as Follia), an ancient theme of European music.

The structure consists of the repetition of the sound by the violins, over the basso continuo line (better, an ostinato bass) supported by the cello. The first violin begins with a first variation, taken up by the second violin, while the first moves on to a second; then the first violin begins the third variation, the second the second, the third the first, and so on in a circular manner; the complexity of the variations increases progressively and then returns to being simpler, for a total of twenty-eight variations.

Rather than being a Canon (with the typical overlapping scheme between dux and comites voices), the structure of the composition follows the pattern of a chaconne or a passacaglia because, in addition to the three violins, there is the two-measure basso continuo line that is repeated - as mentioned - twenty-eight times. We can therefore consider it a composition that combines both techniques.

Over time, the Canon was transcribed for an increasing variety of instruments until reaching the orchestral piece form under which it is also known today.

Regarding the period in which the Canon was written, I think we will have to talk about it bit by bit, given the vastness of the subject!

Bye!

Very cliché wedding canon and ... (I would love to be more original) unfortunately I predict it will also be played at mine, next November! 🙂

Performed with violins, it sounds better. It must be said! 😆

Best wishes, Michele!

Getting married is a magnificent thing! Believe it or not, I did it just last year and I am overjoyed!

I suggest you branch out anyway: in addition to the usual Mozart, Mendelssohn, Wagner, Gounod, Pachelbel, etc..., there are other beautiful compositions—lesser known—that are playable on the piano. At my eldest daughter's wedding, I played before every course (just to ruin the guests' appetite and save them money on the bill!) things like Albeniz's Third Sonata, Grieg's Wedding Day at Troldhaugen, Debussy's Clair de Lune, Gottschalk's Danza and Manchega, but also Joplin's Solace, etc. Among other things, look into light music as well; there are pieces of absolute value!

In short, the Canon is beautiful, classical music is beautiful, but a wedding is not just a march, it is more like a beautiful run through fields that stretch as far as the eye can see!

the most beautiful thing I have played at weddings was Piazzolla's Ave Maria accompanying a violin