Johann Pachelbel

Born: August 1653, in Nuremberg, Germany

Died: March 9, 1706, in Nuremberg

Studied: with Heinrich Schwemmer and Georg Kaspar; also at the University of Altdorf

Assignments: 1673: assistant organist at St. Stephen’s Cathedral, Vienna; 1677: court organist at Eisenach where he would befriend the Bach family and later teach both Johann Sebastian and Johann Christoph Bach; 1678: organist at the Predigerkirche in Erfurt; 1695: organist at St. Sebaldus-kirche in Nuremberg

Best known work: Canon and Gigue in D major for three violins and continuo, though his keyboard and church music are of greater relevance. Pachelbel’s work with the chorale-prelude was of some influence to J.S. Bach.

Curious fact: Like the Bachs, the Pachelbels were a family of composers. One of Johann’s sons emigrated to America, settling in Charleston, SC, and was perhaps the most polished musician of the Colonies in the first half of the 18th-century.

Notable compositions: Hexachordum Apollinis, a collection of six keyboard arias, 1699 Canon and Gigue in D major for three violins and continuo, 1700 Fugue in D minor for organ, ca. 1706 Der Herr is König for double chorus, 1706