Talk about a crossover hit -- anybody who has been to a wedding in the last few decades has probably heard Johann Pachelbel’s Canon In D Major. We cannot hear the original version, performed by Pachelbel, because in his time (1653-1706) there were no video cameras, or even tape recorders. Canon In D Major, Pachelbel’s best-known work, was composed in 1680.
Perhaps the closest we can come to imagining how Pachelbel’s version sounded, using authentic instrumentation of the day, has been recorded by Voices of Music, whose version here is billed as the "Original and Best Version":
There are countless listenworthy “covers” of the composition on youtube. Among my favorites is this one with piano and cello by Brooklyn Duo:
...and one by the Adrian Leaper symphonic orchestra here:
Some of the other noteworthy interpretations of Pachelbel’s Canon In D are linked below.
Before that, though, some notes on the composer, Johann Pachelbel, and the composition, Canon In D Major:
Johann Pachelbel was born in Nuremberg, Germany, in 1653. As was Johann Sebastian Bach a generation after him (1685-1750), Pachelbel was a composer and an organist. And not only did they share the same given name, they both also lived in the large town/small city of Eisenach, although not at the same time – Pachelbel left Eisenach a few years before Bach was born. They may have met later at a wedding of one of Bach’s siblings.
“Pachelbel's Canon,” as it is sometimes known, surged in popularity almost three hundred years after its composition, in the 1970s. This came about as the result of its being recorded by Jean-François Paillard in 1968:
Then, a dozen years later, in 1980, Canon In D became inculcated deeper into the collective conscious when it was featured in the Academy-Award-winning movie Ordinary People in 1980:
Thereafter, Pachelbel’s Canon (as it is also sometimes called), as alluded to above, became wildly popular for use in weddings.
Now here, as promised, are a few links to other versions of Pachelbel’s Canon In D Major:
Piano and violin, by Tritonia Music (apparently a Mother and Daughter duo)
For something a little different:
A commercial by Tosando Music of Japan, using Canon In D Major to demonstrate the power of music and memories it conjures up:
“Canon Rock” by Laura Lace, a sped-up and rocked-up version of the tune played with drums, bass, and guitars:
Albums, Etc. with the Versions linked to above
Breathe: Relaxing Music From The Movies (including Canon In D from Ordinary People)
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00150EC2Q/ref=dm_ws_sp_ps_dp/garrphotgall-20
Canon In D - Brooklyn Duo
https://www.amazon.com/Canon-in-D/dp/B07T4WDQX7/garrphotgall-20
Kanon Orchestre de Chambre & Jean-Francois Paillard
https://www.amazon.com/Canon-in-D/dp/B002G7ENIA/garrphotgall-20
Previous installments of the series “The Name of That Tune” are:
#1: The End of the World: https://ramblingnotesofageezer.substack.com/p/the-end-of-the-world
#2: City of New Orleans: https://ramblingnotesofageezer.substack.com/p/city-of-new-orleans
#3: Hobo’s Lullaby: https://ramblingnotesofageezer.substack.com/p/hobos-lullaby
#4: Ghost Riders in the Sky: https://ramblingnotesofageezer.substack.com/p/ghost-riders-in-the-sky-a-cowboy
#5: Sixteen Tons: https://ramblingnotesofageezer.substack.com/p/sixteen-tons
#6: The Battle of New Orleans: https://ramblingnotesofageezer.substack.com/p/battle-of-new-orleans
#7: The Big Rock Candy Mountain: https://ramblingnotesofageezer.substack.com/p/big-rock-candy-mountain