Canon in D

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The Canon in D major (full German title: Kanon und Gigue in D-Dur für drei Violinen und Basso Continuo or Canon and Gigue in D major for three Violins with Bass Accompaniment) 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. The Canon was originally paired with a gigue in the same key, although this composition is rarely performed or recorded today. It is well known for its chord progression which has become one of the most used in popular music.

The piece is commonly played at weddings and is frequently present on miscellaneous classical music compilation CDs, along with other famous Baroque pieces such as Air on the G String by J. S. Bach, (BWV 1068), and Albinoni's Adagio in G minor. A non-original viola pizzicato part is also commonly added (in a string orchestra or quartet setting) when a harpsichord player is not used to improvise harmonies over the bass line.

[edit] Structure

The first 9 bars of the Canon in D: the violins play a three-voice canon over the ground bass which provides the harmonic structure. Colors are used above to differentiate and highlight the individual canonic entries.

The Canon in D is a strict three-part melodic canon based, both harmonically and structurally, on a two-measure (or -bar) ground bass:

The same two-bar bass line and harmonic sequence is 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 or submediant — the relative minor tonic), F♯ minor (dominant parallel or mediant — the relative minor dominant), G major (subdominant), D major (tonic), G major (subdominant), and A major (dominant). This sequence (or rather, close imitations of it) appears elsewhere in the classical body of work. Mozart employed it for a passage in Die Zauberflöte (1791), at the moment where the Three Youths first appear. He may have learned the sequence from Haydn, who had used it in the minuet of his string quartet Opus 50 No. 2, composed in 1785. Neither Haydn's nor Mozart's passage is an exact harmonic match to Pachelbel's, both deviating in the last two bars. For parallels in popular music, see below.

The actual canon is played over the ground bass by the violins. In the beginning, the first violin plays the first two bars of the canon's melody. At this point, the second violin enters with the beginning of the melody, whilst the first violin continues with the next two bars of the canon. Then the third violin commences the canon, whilst the second violin plays the third and fourth bars and the first violin continues with the fifth and sixth. The three violin parts then follow one another at two bars' distance until the end of the piece. The canon becomes increasingly dense towards the middle of the piece as the note values become shorter (first in the first violin, then in the second, and finally in the third violin). Afterwards, the piece gradually returns to a less complex structure as the note values lengthen once more. There are some 28 repetitions of the ground bass in total. The canon is relatively simple and does not make use of any advanced counterpoint devices such as inversion, augmentation, diminution, etc.

It is often seen to be a set of variations over a ground bass or chord progression, like various composers' variations on La Folia (many of which also date from the Baroque period), whereas it is actually a true canon at the unison over a ground bass, as can be seen above. In this regard it is similar to the 13th century round Sumer is icumen in.

[edit] 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^{[citation needed]}. 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 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 that year, it was adapted by the Greek band Aphrodite's Child on their only international hit, Rain and Tears. In more recent times, Australian-British string quartet Bond played a modified, more updated version of the Pachelbel Canon in their song Lullaby on their 2004 album Classified.

• The soundtrack of the film The Enigma of Kaspar Hauser by Werner Herzog features the Canon; it was also used in the film's trailer.

• 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. The chord progression of the canon also surfaces in Eno's 1983 Apollo: Atmospheres and Soundtracks recording on the track Always Returning. 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").

• Used as the main theme in the Academy Award winning 1980 film Ordinary People.

• In 1984, Japanese singer/actress Togawa Jun's song "Mushi no Onna" was adapted from Canon in D with lyrics.

• Also in 1984, the movie Electric Dreams featured a duet between a Cello player and Edgar the sentient computer. However, this was easily identifiable as Minuet #4 in G, not by Pachelbel at all.

• In the television series The Wonder Years, Kevin Arnold practises the piece and is set to play it at his piano recital. His teacher's star student, Ronald Hirschmeuller, is also set to play the same song.

• It appears in the popular anime movie Evangelion: Death and Rebirth. Initially it is played by certain key characters while performing as a string quartet. Later it is used as the Closing Theme.

• In 1998, French film director Gaspar Noé used the Canon in his film Seul contre tous.

• Third wave ska-punk band Catch 22 adapted the Canon to use in the bridge of their song "On & On & On" on their 1998 debut, Keasbey Nights.

• In 2000, The song was featured as part of the opening tune for Arthur's Perfect Christmas.

• The song plays a prominent role in the 2002 Korean comedy "My Sassy Girl." (The song is actually a variation composed by George Winston).

• Snapcase, a former metalcore band from Buffalo, New York adapted the melody and chord progression of the Canon for the song "ID/Hindsight" off of their 2002 album End Transmission.

• Banya released a rock version of Canon titled Canon-D (Part of the Memories #1) for the game Pump It Up Exceed 2. The music in the game is accompanied by an anime-style music video background, the song ended up being one of the hardest to play but most loved songs in the game's series

• In 2005, a video of a young Korean guitarist calling himself funtwo played "Canon Rock". It's an energetic rock version of Pachelbel's Canon on electric guitar arranged by JerryC. Over 50 guitarists have published "Canon Rock" videos; Korean guitarist funtwo's video is one of the most watched Youtube clips of all time.

• Another Korean adaptation is a commercial in 2006 with "Bboy Zero-Nine" (Shin Young Suk) dancing to the tune of Canon in D. Using a traditional Korean Instrument, Gaya Geum, It was remixed with added Beat-Box and Scratch to add a little "Hip-Hop" taste in it. The music was remade by "Lee Changyui."

• A slightly modified version of the canon is played on three alto saxes and one baritone sax annually in the Plymouth-Canton Marching Band.

• The song is present in the animated version of the manga Ichigo 100%.

• Rick Wakeman of Yes performs a baroque rendition of the song on his Wakeman 2000 DVD.

• A revised version of this song can be found in the Canon Groove, a popular song for the online game Audition Online.

• Canon in D is featured on the 2006 album, Piano Love Songs, by pianist Bradley Joseph.

• In the 2006 animated version of the anime series Kanon Canon in D is played in the café Yuuichi and his friends visit. In a later episode, Sayuri mentions the piece, "When the same melody plays repeatedly, little by little it'd turn into a rich and beautiful music. Just like this, even if a person lives a seemingly unchanging life, little by little things will change."

• Played in the movie during a hallway scene in Step Up.

• The Future Sound of London has song titled "Domain" on their fourth album; Lifeforms, which contains the melody from Canon in D.

• Mixed Company, an a cappella group from Yale University, arranged a version of the Canon in D entitled "Taco Bell Canon." Its text praises multiple fast food chains, as well as tequila, beer, and margaritas.

• The American rapper Coolio included Pachelbel’s Canon in the song “See you When you Get There” from his "My Soul" CD (1997).

• Zox plays a version of Pachelbel's Canon entitled "Canon" on their 2002 album "Take Me Home."

• In the movie Reno 911!: Miami, Pachelbel's Canon is played during a montage at the motel in which the characters are staying.

• Trans-Siberian Orchestra performs two songs, "Christmas Canon" and "Christmas Canon Rock" found on albums "The Christmas Attic" and "The Lost Christmas Eve", respectively.

• The song "All together now" by British band The Farm features a very similar chord sequence to the Canon.

• The Simon Fraser University Pipe Band (From Vancouver, Canada) plays this tune on their CD "On Home Ground"

• The video game Might and Magic: The Secret of the Inner Sanctum, created for the 8-bit Nintendo, used a variation of Pachelbel's Canon in D as the title theme song.

[edit] 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 popular music.

In 1999, pop artist Vitamin C used Canon in D in her Graduation (Friends Forever) in both the verse and the chorus. Other groups that have used this chord progression are Green Day ("Basket Case"), Coven ("One Tin Soldier"), Spiritualized ("Ladies and Gentlemen We Are Floating in Space"), Aerosmith ("Cryin'"), Dire Straits ("Tunnel of Love"), DragonForce ("Valley of the Damned"), Augustana ("Boston"), Blues Traveler ("Hook"), The Village People and Pet Shop Boys ("Go West"), Goldie Lookin' Chain ("Your Missus Is A Nutter"), Lionel Richie ("Say You, Say Me"), Scatman John ("Scatman's World"), Delerium ("Paris"), Natalie Imbruglia ("Torn"), Bob James ("In the Garden"), Oasis ("Don't Look Back In Anger"), U2 ("With or Without You"), Bee Gees ("Spicks and Specks") and McFly ("Memory Lane") as well as others.

Many of these usages were run into a medley by comedian Rob Paravonian in a sketch where he is paranoid that, "Pachelbel's following me!"

[edit] Other uses

• At least one big-city National Public Radio station, during the time of the Taco Bell TV ads involving a "talking" Chihuahua dog, posted a billboard reading, "Yo quiero Pachelbel!".
• The Magyspy theme in the Gameboy Advance Game Mother 3 is a remix of Canon in D.
• The popular videogame Gran Turismo 4 features Canon in D. as one of the tracks listenable during races.
• The strategic videogame Utopia for the Amiga & Super Nintendo, also features Canon in D. as one of the tracks listenable during the gameplay.
• The World Cup 2006 Coca-Cola TV ads feature the melody from Canon D.
• The song has been used as the theme of a Korean film, The Classic（假如愛有天意 in Chinese), and a variation written for piano also appears in another popular Korean movie, My Sassy Girl, starring Jun Ji-Hyun. Both movies were directed by Kwak Jae-Yong.
• In the 2006 remake of the anime Kanon, the song was used in a café scene within several episodes, predominantly in episodes 1 and 14. In episode 14, the song itself is referred to by name within the episode, and a description of the song is given by the character Sayuri Kurata that can be read as an allegory for the show itself.
• In a scene at the mall from the Dragonball Z movie Super Android 13! (English Dub), Canon in D is used as background music.
• In Idoru by William Gibson at page 44, a software agent used to provide musical instruction to the story's protagonist introduces her to DESH 'Diatonic Elaboration of Static Harmony'. This is the common musical pattern of which Johann Pachelbel's Canon is the most famous and classic example.
• Canon in D is featured prominently as background music during the episode of Carl Sagan's Cosmos series entitled "The Persistence of Memory".
• Chords from 'Canon in D' are heard in the song "Don't Let It Be Love" by the band Bowling for Soup. In reaction to the notes from 'Canon in D', the singer states "If I ever hear that song again I might just kill someone".
• In The World According To Clarkson, Jeremy Clarkson claims the song is played in most places in Washington DC.

[edit] Media

[edit] External Links

• Canon on Acoustic Guitar
• Canon on the Electric Guitar