Johann Pachelbel

Johann Pachelbel was a German composer, organist, and teacher of the middle Baroque period whose output of organ, vocal, and chamber works made him one of the most-prolific German composers of the late 17th century. He was born on September 1, 1653, in Nuremberg, Free Imperial City of the Holy Roman Empire, the son of a wine dealer. His early musical training in Nuremberg led to study at the Auditorio Aegidianum and briefly at the University of Altdorf.

He held organist posts in Vienna (1673–1677) at the Stephansdom as deputy organist, in Eisenach (1677–1678) at the court of Saxe-Eisenach, in Erfurt (1678–1690) at the Predigerkirche, in Stuttgart (1690–1692) at the Württemberg court, and in Gotha (1692–1695) before returning to his native Nuremberg in 1695 as organist at St. Sebaldus, the post he held until his death. His Erfurt years were the most-productive of his career and brought him into contact with the Bach family — he taught Johann Christoph Bach, the eldest brother and primary teacher of Johann Sebastian Bach.

His compositional output included approximately 70 chorale preludes, 95 fugues on the Magnificat, more than 90 organ chorales, 17 suites for harpsichord, and a substantial body of vocal music including the Vespers and the Latin Magnificat settings. His most-famous work — the Canon and Gigue in D major for three violins and basso continuo — was composed sometime between 1680 and 1706 but lay essentially unperformed for nearly three centuries until its rediscovery and 1968 recording by the Jean-François Paillard Chamber Orchestra brought it to international fame.

He died on March 9, 1706, in Nuremberg, aged 52, and was buried at St. Rochus Cemetery. His Canon in D has become one of the most-performed pieces of Western classical music — a fixture of weddings, films, and pop arrangements — though the breadth of his organ and vocal output remains better known among specialists than the general public.

His name Johann is the German form of the Hebrew Yôḥānān, meaning "Yahweh is gracious" — the same root as English John. He carried it as one of the most-common given names of Baroque-era German Lutheran families, and his fame as the composer of the Canon has helped preserve the name's associations with German classical music.