I'd call it the oldest and most spread music fad of mankind.
What it is[]
Pachelbel's Canon
- Aka: Canon in D major;
- Full german title: Kanon und Gigue in D-Dur für drei Violinen und Basso Continuo)
is the most famous piece of music by Johann Pachelbel. It influenced pop-music all over the world but mostly in Netherland and around previous netherland colonies.
It's the most extraordinary instance of the "Crossover music" 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. It is used as a Wedding song and generally included in romantic lullabys and techno music.
It was played in countless versions for ALL instruments and ALL musical genres. The process shows no sign of abating.
Origin[]
It was written around 1680 , during the Baroque period as a piece of chamber music for three violins and basso continuo. The Canon was originally paired with a gigue in the same music key, however this composition is rarely performed or recorded today.
The canon was first adapted musically in a pop song by the Spanish vocal group Los Pop Tops on their 1968 hit "O Lord, Why Lord?", which made modest chart showings in both the USA (peaking at #79 on the Billboard Hot 100 and the Netherlands.
Pachelbel's Canon in Film[]
Pachelbel's Canon, in a classic or orchestral version, has been featured repeatedly in films:
America: | Ordinary People , Bad Timing , The Wonder Years. (sitcom) |
Australia: | Mini-series "Vietnam"(1987) , Vitamin Cs opening in her song, Graduation: Friends Forever. |
Germany/Europe: | "Das Sündige Bett" (The Sinful Bed) 1973. |
Asia: | Evangelion: Death and Rebirth. |
South Korea: | My Sassy Girl , The Classic. |
20th century 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 music:
Early[]
Year | Song | Band, Album | status | matching | Misc | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1966 | Spicks & Specks | Bee Gees | get | ???????? | ||
1968 | Rain and Tears | Aphrodite's Child | Exact | AAAAAAAA | Minor UK Hit, Most Popular in Franceo | |
1968 | Oh Lord Why Lord? | ??? | ???????? | |||
1970 | "Bachelbel's Canon in D Mayor" | Karl Münchinger | ??? | ???????? | Stuttgart Chamber Orchestra (considered best) | |
1969 | Streets of London | Ralph McTell | vocal + guitar | AAaAAaAa | Guitar and vocals | |
1970 | "Erato 98475" | Jean-François Paillard | ??? | ???????? | Paillard Chamber Orchestra | |
1974 | Wenn ein Mensch lebt | Puhdys | get | ???????? | A german version of Bee Gees "Spicks &Specks" with a different vocal melody. | |
1975 | Discreet Music | Brian Eno's | ??? | ???????? | a series of 3 versions of ambiend variations | |
1978 | Go West | (Morali Belolo Willis) Village People | Exact | AaAaAaAA / AAAAAAaa | trumpet / background | |
1980 | "Tunnel of Love" | get | ???????? | Mark Knopfler, Dire Straits' | ||
1982 | Eyes Of The World | Fleetwood Mac, Mirage | get | ???????? | used in the intro and bridge | |
1985 | Variations on the Kanon by Johann Pachelbel | George Winston, December | ??? | ???????? | album | |
1985 | Take on me (Techno remix) | A-Ha (Spectrum) | shuffled variation | AAAaaAAa / (AAAx___) | synthesizer melody (swapped) / (background melody) | |
1986 | Hometown | Joe Jackson, Big Wrld | melody + lyrics | aaaaaaaa / AAAAAAAa | melody / lyrics | |
1988 | Love In The First Degree | (Stock Aitken Waterman Woodward Fahey Dallin) Bananarama | in | AAAAAAAA | single | |
1988 | I Should Be So Lucky | Kylie Minogue | in | AAAAAAAA / AAAAAAAA | trumpet / lyric melody | |
1989 | Someday We Will All Be Together | Claire Hamill | in | AAAAAAAA | single |
1990's[]
1991 | Pachelbel's Greatest Hit | classic compilation CD | ???????? | RCA (incl James Galway, Isao Tomita, Canadian Brass ...) | ||
1991 | WTWP Classical Talkity-Talk Radio | P. D. Q. Bach | ???????? | "wall-to-wall Pachelbel" ubiquity | ||
1991 | Ingame music | Utopia, Gremlin Graphics | ???????? | video game | ||
1991 | All Together Now] | The Farm | ???????? | single | ||
1992 | The Tacobel Canon | Christine Lavin, Sometimes Mother Really Does Know Best | ???????? | lyrics about Taco Bell's food | ||
1993 | Go West | ???????? | Pet Shop Boys | |||
1993 | Mega Man 4 introduction | Ojalin, Bun Bun | ???????? | video game | ||
1994 | Basket Case | Green Day | ???????? | song | ||
~1995 | Forbidden Paradise (Deep Trance Mix) | DJ Tiesto | ???????? | |||
1995 | Scatman's World | Scatman John | ???????? | hit | ||
1995 | Don't Look Back in Anger | Oasis | ???????? | hit | ||
1996 | I Got to Tell you | Dr. Octagon, "Octagynecologist" | ???????? | Kool Keith delivering a fake radio advertisement over Pachelbel's Canon. | ||
1996 | Hook | Blues Traveler | ???????? | |||
1996 | Alármala De Tos | ???????? | Café Tacuba, Avalancha De Exitos | |||
1997 | Ladies and Gentlemen We Are Floating in Space | Spiritualized | ???????? | album title track | ||
1997 | Maciek, ja tylko żartowałem | ???????? | Kazik | |||
1997 | C U When You Get There | ???????? | Coolio | |||
1997 | E-5 piece (EVA-00 and its derivatives) | Neon Genesis Evangelion, Shiro Sagisu | ???????? | Anime series | ||
1997 | Estoy Tan Cansado | Moenia | ???????? | Spanish pop song | ||
1998 | Save Tonight | Eagle-Eye Cherry | Exact + guitar + lyrics | AAAA____ / ____AAAA | humming + guitar / refrain | |
1998 | Let the Music heal your Soul | ???????? | Bravo All Stars: Backstreet Boys, N Sync, ??? | |||
1998 | 't Dondert en het bliksemt (Meters Bier) | Guus Meeuwis | ???????? | single | ||
1998 | Opus 40 | Mercury Rev | ???????? | single | ||
1998 | On and On and On | Catch 22, Keasbey Nights] | ???????? | reference in the middle of the song | ||
1999 | Graduation (Friends Forever) | ???????? | Colleen Fitzpatrick, Vitamin C |
2000's[]
2001 | La Belle et le Bad Boy | MC Solaar | ???????? | track | ||
2001 | Crack City Rockers | Leftöver Crack | ???????? | ska/punk band | ||
2001 | Este Canon | Alejandro Filio | ???????? | Trova Song | ||
2001 | My Sassy Girl | ???????? | Hyun-seok Kim | |||
2002 | Canon | ???????? | Zox, Take Me Home | |||
2003 | Section 9 (Light & Day/Reach for the Sun) | The Polyphonic Spree, The Beginning Stages Of... | ???????? | almost identical vocal melody | ||
2003 | Looking For Something | Era | ???????? | album The Mass | ||
2003 | Everytime | Britney Spears | ???????? | In the Zone | ||
2003 | Drum and Bugle Corps | Phantom Regiment, Rockford, Illinois, Harmonic Journey | ???????? | lyrical variation | ||
2004 | Lullaby | BONd , Classified (album) | ???????? | "see origin" (string quartet) | ||
2004 | Pachel Bells | "internet" | ???????? | jingle bells melody | ||
2004 | Life Is Cool | Sweetbox | ???????? | single | ||
2004 | Volverte A Ver | ???????? | Juanes | |||
2005 | Die Eine 2005 | Die Firma | ???????? | single | ||
2005 | Lookin' On The Sunny Side | M.O.V.E. .Japanese rock | ???????? | Eurobeat track | ||
2005 | Big City Life | Mattafix | ???????? | single | ||
2005 | Canon Rock | Jerry C | ???????? | rock arrangement/guitar solo |
?????'s[]
? | Christmas Canon | Trans-Siberian Orchestra, The Christmas Attic | ???????? | Christmas Lyrics | |
? | Christmas Canon Rock | Trans-Siberian Orchestra, The Lost Christmas Eve | ???????? | Christmas Lyrics & E-guitar | |
? | Jolly Old Saint Nicholas | ? | ???????? | ||
? | Seek Ye First | ? | ???????? | hymn accompaniment | |
? | a rock remix of it by | Banya,Exceed, Pump It Up | ???????? | anime-style music video | |
? | a techno remix of it by Dr. 꽃샤쓰 | O2Jam | ???????? | ||
? | Hold the pickle, hold the lettuce, special orders don't upset us | Burger King, jingle | ???????? | commercial opening | |
? | Re-made by Yngwie J. Malmsteen | ???????? | famous classical guitar virtuoso | ||
Neverending Dream | X-Perience | ___aaAA AAaxxaaa | "refrain shifted" "...(to)night i wanna hide my feelings to..." | ||
Magic Fields | X-Perience | AAAaAAAA | "refrain lyrics: magic fields'se seen..." | ||
Why Oh Why | ATC, Planet Pop | AAAaAAAa / AAAAAAA_ | baseline / lyrics | ||
Around the world | ATC | ____AAAA / AAAA___ | baseline / "refrain: la lalala lala" | ||
Dooh Dooh | barcode brothers | AA_AAa_A / AAaAaaaa | baseline "shifted" / "lyrics: ... cant understand what goes on in a heart" | ||
Heut ist mein Tag | Blümchen | AAAaAAAA | base melody at 1:00 | ||
The last unicorn theme | various | AAA_AAAa | "lyrics: shadow of the forest..." |
Other uses[]
- Soccer fans in Europe, especially in the Netherlands, are known to use the basic melody to chant in stadiums. One popular Dutch text is "'t is stil aan de overkant" ("it's quiet on the other side"), which they repeat over and over again and which can also sometimes be heard at other sporting events that take place in stadiums, such as ice skating.
- 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!".
My Canon is Too Big![]
Anyone cades for this paragraph?
It's commonly played at weddings and is on many classical music compilations, along with other famous Baroque pieces such as , a 19th century arrangement of the second movement from Johann Sebastian Bach's Orchestral Suite No. 3, and Albinoni's Adagio in G minor, which is a reconstruction of a lost piece by Tomaso Albinoni. A non-original viola pizzicato part is also commonly added (in a string orchestra or String quartet setting) when a harpsichord player is not used to improvise harmonies over the bass line.
Structure of DEEZ NUTZ[]
The violins play a three-voice canon over the ground bass which provides the main theme. Colors are used to indicate individual variations, 3 out of 28 can be seen here in full.
The name Canon in D is slightly misleading because the piece is not a strict music canon but rather a chaconne or a passacaglia. It is based, both harmonically and structurally, on a two-measure ground bass:
The same two-bar bass line and harmonic sequence repeated over and over, about 30 times in total. "Boooooooooooring"!
The Chords of this sequence are: D major (tonic), A major (dominant dominant), B minor (tonic parallel), F# minor (dominant parallel), G major (subdominant), D major (tonic), G major (subdominant), A major (dominant). And of course G major (gin tonic)!
The sequence (or rather, close imitations of it) appears elsewhere in the classical canon. Wolfgang Amadeus 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 Joseph 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.
canon for dummies[]
The actual canon is played over the bass by the violins. In the beginning, the first violin plays the first Variation. After this is over, it starts playing the second variation, and the second violin starts playing the first variation. Then the first violin starts playing the third variation, the second violin starts playing the second variation, the third violin enters with the first variation, and so on. The structure of the canon becomes increasingly dense towards the middle of the piece as the variations grow in complexity. Afterwards, the piece gradually returns to a less complex structure. There are 28 variations in total. The canon is relatively simple and doesn't make use of any advanced counterpoint devices such as Inversion in counterpoint, Augmentation, diminution, etc.
Also see[]
classical:
- www.leegalloway.com Lee Galloways Pachelbel's Canon.ogg
- A version in canon - The canon played in canon throughout; Pachelbels_canon_canonical.ogg
- A medly recording of many Pachelbel Cannon pop songs
- PDF of the score to Canon & Gigue.
- YouTube Playlist containing 650 and counting videos (Defines Canon as I - [I7c, iii7, V, V7/vi] - vi - [iii, I, V7/vi] - IV - [I, iii] - [IV, ii, V/V] - V, includes endless amounts of Asian pop music)
- Information on the Paillard recording
- Website about Canon In D
- Free easy piano arrangement of Canon in D at Easybyte
- The musical roots of the songs "Seek ye First" and "Streets of London" in Johann
- The Canon In D (Rock arrangement by JerryC) and cover versions by various artists
Other names and unicode[]
- Air on G string
- Kanon D-dur (Pachelbel)
- 파헬벨의 카논
- カノン (パッヘルベル)
- 巴貝海爾卡農D大調