Pachelbel's canon

It is commonly played at weddings.

The music

The canon, which is in 4/4 time, uses a number of techniques: as well as an orthodox canon, the canon is given in inversion (that is, the following voice is upside-down compared to the leading voice), in retrograde (the follower is back-to-front), augmentation (with longer note values) and diminution (with shorter note values). It is an example of canon ad semibrevem (entry at the whole note).

Harmony

The harmonic basis of the canon is a ground bass: the same four-bar bass line and harmonic sequence are repeated over and over, about 30 times in total. The chords of this sequence are: D major (tonic), A major (dominant), B minor (tonic parallel), F# minor (dominant parallel) G major (subdominant) D major (tonic), E minor (subdominant parallel) A major (dominant).

The sequence, or rather, close imitations of it, appears elsewhere in the classical canon. Mozart employed it for a striking passage in The Magic Flute (1791), at the moment where the Three Youths first appear. Mozart may have learned the sequence from Haydn, who had used it in the minuet of his string quartet Opus 50 no. 2 (1785). Neither Haydn's or Mozart's passage is an exact harmonic match to Pachelbel's, both deviating in the last two bars.

For a parallel in popular music, see below.

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.

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.
The following are representative appearances of the canon in popular culture.

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.

Later adaptations of the Canon include:

• 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").

• The Farm's 1991 single "All Together Now"

• 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)".

• "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.

• Those who grew up in southern California during the 1980s will recognize Pachelbel's canon as the background music to virtually every alcoholism and drug treatment center commercial of the period.

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

• Pachelbel's canon is prominently featured in the blockbuster South Korean romantic comedy My Sassy Girl and The Classic.

• 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.

• The motion picture, Ordinary People (1980) featured this selection as the main theme on its soundtrack.

• Pump It Up Exceed 2 featured a rock remix of it by Banya (a short and a long version), and featured one of the best music video (anime style) in the game, if not for all dance games.
  

  Media

  External links

• Pachelbel's Greatest Hits on Amazon.com
• Information on the Paillard recording
• A list of over 240 recordings