Music: JOHANN PACHELBEL - CANON & GIGUE IN D MAJOR (C.1700) - I. SOSTENUTO

Johann Pachelbel: Canon & Gigue in D major (c.1700) - I. Sostenuto. History (based on materials from the Grove Dictionary of Music): Delibes' "Sous le dôme épais", Leoncavallo's "I pagliacci", Barber's adagio for strings - the history of classical music is filled with many examples of so-called "one-hit wonders". Yet no other composer could claim to be more "deserving" of the title than Johann Pachelbel (1653-1706) whose Canon in D major has literally thrown into oblivion all his other works. Pachelbel was outstandingly successful as an organist, composer and teacher during his lifetime, enjoying professional stability and the utmost respect of his colleagues and the public. This becomes especially clear when we consider that he was appointed, late in his life, the organist of St. Sebaldus, Nuremberg, a coveted post, without the customary examinations. Turning to the Canon in question, the circumstances of the piece's composition are virtually unknown. There is the odd hypothesis that it may have been composed for the wedding of Pachelbel's student, J.C. Bach, on 23 October 1694, which Pachelbel attended and for which he supplied music; however, its correctness has been put into question. At any rate, by the time the canon was first published, in 1919, it had already become an antiquity. However, when the work was recorded by the Jean-François Paillard chamber orchestra in mid-60s, it became popular virtually overnight (its use in the film "Ordinary People" (1980) may have also been a contributing factor for its rediscovery). From then on, hundreds of arrangements of the Canon for every conceivable instrument have appeared, and the work began rivaling Wagner's Wedding March as the prime music for weddings.