Pachelbel's Canon

Pachelbel's Canon (formally the Canon in D-major; full German title: Kanon und Gigue in D-Dur für drei Violinen und Basso Continuo) is the most famous piece of music by Johann Pachelbel. It 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. It was originally followed by a gigue in the same key, though this is rarely played today.

Pachelbel's canon in popular culture

The Pachelbel canon may represent the most extraordinary instance of the crossover phenomenon in all of music. During a short period in the early 1970s it went from being a quite obscure work of early music to a universally familiar cultural item. It was played in countless versions in its original notes and instrumentation, as well as in arrangements for other instruments and in adaptations into other musical genres. The process shows no sign of abating.

Related Topics:
Crossover - 1970s

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The popularization is thought to have originated with the release of a 1970 recording of the work (Erato 98475) performed by the Paillard Chamber Orchestra under the direction of Jean-François Paillard. It was also brought to recognition by what is often considered as the best recording of Pachelbel Canon, arranged and performed by Karl Münchinger with the Stuttgart Chamber Orchestra in 1970.

Related Topics:
1970 - Paillard Chamber Orchestra - Jean-François Paillard - Karl Münchinger

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The canon was first adapted musically in a pop song by the Spanish vocal group Pop Tops on their 1968 hit "O Lord, Why Lord?", which made modest chart showings in both the USA (peaking at #79 on the Hot 100) and the Netherlands.

Related Topics:
Pop song - Spanish - Pop Tops - 1968 - USA - Hot 100 - Netherlands

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The second half of Brian Eno's pioneering 1975 ambient music recording Discreet Music consists of a series of versions of Pachelbel's canon to which various algorithmic transformations have been applied, rendering it almost unrecognisable. In 1991, RCA released a compilation CD called Pachelbel's Greatest Hit. It contained eight different versions of the piece, including performances by James Galway, Isao Tomita, and the Canadian Brass. Also released that year was the P. D. Q. Bach album WTWP Classical Talkity-Talk Radio, a spoof of classical radio and the canon's ubiquity there (WTWP stands for "wall-to-wall Pachelbel").

Related Topics:
Brian Eno - 1975 - Ambient music - Discreet Music - 1991 - RCA - Pachelbel's Greatest Hit - James Galway - Isao Tomita - Canadian Brass - P. D. Q. Bach - WTWP Classical Talkity-Talk Radio

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During a stand-up comedy routine on the Dr. Demento basement tapes, comedian Rob Paravonian recognizes the popular music takeover of Pachelbel's canon.

Related Topics:
Dr. Demento - Rob Paravonian

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::"The cello part in Pachelbel's canon is the most boring part ever written. It's 8 quarter notes repeated... 54 times - I counted, because I had nothing else to do... I hated this piece. The violins got lovely melodies. The second violins got lovely melodies. The violas got lovely melodies, which should never happen. The celloists, we got eight notes. And if you ever wonder why, I think I've figured it out. I think Pachelbel must have dated a celloist, and she dissed him really bad. And so he just gave the celloists the worst parts he could ever think of. And you know, I wouldn't be bitter about it, except the man is following me. He's been dead for like 300 years but he's popping up everywhere."

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:Paravonian continues on to note several songs in which he recognizes Pachelbel's influence, although this influence is likely coincidental, as many songs share the tonic-dominant-tonic parallel-dominant parallel pattern. He also characterizes Johann Pachelbel as the original one-hit wonder.

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In Film

Pachelbel's Canon has been featured repeatedly in films, including Ordinary People, and the South Korean films My Sassy Girl and The Classic. The anime movie features several cutscenes where four of the main characters perform different classical music pieces separately, until they assemble a string quartet and play Pachelbel's Canon.

Related Topics:
Ordinary People - My Sassy Girl - The Classic - Anime

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Musical adaptations

The chord progression ("I V vi iii IV I IV V") of Pachelbel's canon has been incorporated into or otherwise influenced many pieces of contemporary music:

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• Aphrodite's Child's hit Rain and Tears, first released in 1968.
• The Farm's 1991 single "All Together Now"
• The introduction background music to the videogame Mega Man 4.
• The 1996 interstitial oddity "I Got to Tell you" by Dr. Octagon from the album "Octagynecologist" consists of Kool Keith delivering a fake radio advertisement over Pachelbel's Canon. The instrumental version of the album has an extended remix with no voice over.
• The 1996 hit "Hook" by Blues Traveler
• The 1997 single "C U When You Get There" by Coolio
• The 1999 hit by Vitamin C, "Graduation (Friends Forever)".
• The 2001 track "La Belle et le Bad Boy" by MC Solaar.
• The 2004 single "Life Is Cool" by Sweetbox.
• The 2005 single "Die Eine 2005" by Die Firma.
• "Canon" by Trans-Siberian Orchestra adds Christmas lyrics to the familiar melody
• The chords in the song Basket Case by Green Day are based around the Canon.
• The Polyphonic Spree's song "Section 9 (Light & Day/Reach for the Sun)" has an almost identical chord structure to canon, to such a point as it's possible to sing the vocal melody and lyrics of it over the song.
• Christine Lavin parodied it in her live album Sometimes Mother Really Does Know Best by wondering what if Pachelbel wrote songs for Taco Bell, renaming the composition "The Tacobel Canon" with lyrics about Taco Bell's food.
• The music selection of the computer game Utopia, published by Gremlin Graphics in 1991, includes Pachelbel's canon, and three original melodies.
• Catch 22's song On and On and On from Keasbey Nights contains a reference to Pachelbel's Canon in the middle of the song.
• Pump It Up Exceed 2 featured a rock remix of it by Banya (a short and a long version), and featured an anime-style music video.
• Shiro Sagisu's E-5 piece (EVA-00 and its derivatives) from anime series Neon Genesis Evangelion is based on Canon.
• The 2005 track "Lookin' On The Sunny Side" by M.O.V.E., a Japanese rock Eurobeat band.
• The title track of Spiritualized's 1997 album Ladies and Gentlemen We Are Floating in Space.