Johann Pachelbel [1] baptised 1 September [2] [3] — buried 9 March [4] was a German composer, organist , and teacher who brought the south German organ schools to their peak. He composed a large body of sacred and secular music, and his contributions to the development of the chorale prelude and fugue have earned him a place among the most important composers of the middle Baroque era. Pachelbel's music enjoyed enormous popularity during his lifetime; he had many pupils and his music became a model for the composers of south and central Germany.
Today, Pachelbel is best known for the Canon in D , as well as the Chaconne in F minor , the Toccata in E minor for organ, and the Hexachordum Apollinis , a set of keyboard variations. He preferred a lucid, uncomplicated contrapuntal style that emphasized melodic and harmonic clarity. His music is less virtuosic and less adventurous harmonically than that of Dieterich Buxtehude , although, like Buxtehude, Pachelbel experimented with different ensembles and instrumental combinations in his chamber music and, most importantly, his vocal music , much of which features exceptionally rich instrumentation.
Pachelbel explored many variation forms and associated techniques, which manifest themselves in various diverse pieces, from sacred concertos to harpsichord suites. The exact date of Johann's birth is unknown, but since he was baptized on 1 September he may have been born in late August. During his early youth, Pachelbel received musical training from Heinrich Schwemmer , a musician and music teacher who later became the cantor of St.
Sebaldus Church Sebalduskirche. Some sources indicate that Pachelbel also studied with Georg Caspar Wecker , organist of the same church and an important composer of the Nuremberg school, but this is now considered unlikely. Johann Mattheson , whose Grundlage einer Ehrenpforte Hamburg, is one of the most important sources of information about Pachelbel's life, mentions that the young Pachelbel demonstrated exceptional musical and academic abilities.
He received his primary education in St. Lorenz Hauptschule and the Auditorio Aegediano in Nuremberg, then on 29 June he became a student at the University of Altdorf , where he was also appointed organist of St. Lorenz church the same year. Financial difficulties forced Pachelbel to leave the university after less than a year.
