Canon (in D) and Gigue

Born a generation before Händel, Pachelbel also was aware of Italy’s preeminence in all things musical. Posted for a time in Vienna, he would have had a chance to “listen in” on musical cross currents as they passed through that capital city. In this way, he could witness the rise of the violin sonatas and trio sonatas coming north across the Alps. The two sonatas—actually partitas, since they are based on dance forms—heard this evening, one in E minor and one in E-flat major, bear the stamp of Italian influence, even though the dance suite had been firmly established in Germany by the middle of the 17th century. The bulk of Pachelbel’s output was geared toward sacred worship in his homeland of Germany, and the double motet “Der Herr ist König” represents that for us tonight.
Pachelbel’s Canon in D Major is the most recorded and widely recognized piece of classical music. Indeed, for many people it is the calling card of classical music. Like Beethoven’s Fifth Symphony or Mozart’s Eine kleine Nachtmusik, however, it is so familiar that we tend to overlook its real merits. In the case of Pachelbel’s Canon, two structural principles are at work: chaconne, or the use of an exactly recurring harmonic progression and bass melody; and, of course, canon (imitation of a motive by successive voices at a fixed interval of time and pitch). Pachelbel sets the canon at the unison—i.e., all three violins start on the same pitch, F-sharp—and at the duration of two measures, just like “Row, row, row your boat,” in fact. Canon offers a kind of compositional puzzle since the trick is to write a single continuous line that will harmonize against itself at various points in its unfolding. Some canons break off in mid course, but not this one. Pachelbel maintains the imitation strictly all the way to the final cadence. The quality of his variations above a static bass holds our interest.
And let us not forget the companion Gigue, a piece too often left out of consideration when the Canon is heard as processional or background music. This movement, though quite short in comparison, also features contrapuntal imitation between the three violins. Here the imitation follows the basic shape of a fugue. The binary form movement modulates to A major at the midpoint, after which the fugal entries are reversed in order to restore D as the home key. In terms of simplicity and grace, the Gigue yields nothing to its famous partner, and its lilting subject is equally infectious.

(c) Jason Stell