Johann Pachelbel

Johann Pachelbel was baptized in Nuremberg on September 1, 1653, and was buried there on March 9, 1706. A Lutheran organist, composer, and teacher, he studied in Altdorf and Regensburg and probably served as a deputy organist at St. Stephen's Cathedral in Vienna. His career then took him to the court at Eisenach, the Predigerkirche in Erfurt, the Württemberg court in Stuttgart, and Gotha. In 1695 he returned to Nuremberg as organist of St. Sebaldus Church, a post he held until his death.

Pachelbel's twelve years in Erfurt established him as an influential organ teacher and linked him closely with the Bach family. His pupils included Johann Christoph Bach, the elder brother who later taught Johann Sebastian Bach. Pachelbel's surviving music includes Lutheran chorale settings, organ preludes and toccatas, sacred vocal works, chamber music, and variation collections. Hexachordum Apollinis, published in 1699, is among his important keyboard works.

Canon and Gigue in D major represents the relatively small surviving portion of Pachelbel's chamber music. Its precise date and purpose are unknown. Although Canon in D is now his most familiar composition, Pachelbel's historical importance is broader: his lucid contrapuntal writing and treatment of the Lutheran chorale helped shape the south and central German keyboard tradition before Johann Sebastian Bach.