BaroqueJohann Pachelbel
Johann Pachelbel was born in Nuremberg, Germany, about three hundred and seventy years ago.
Johann Pachelbel’s life
The big moments of this life, and what was happening in the world at the same time.
A life at a glance
And after his or her death: 1 landmark in the detailed timeline (1968).
- 1653👶 Birth
Baptised in Nuremberg on 1 September
- 1666🌍 Meanwhile
Great Fire of London
- 1669📚 Trainingage 16
Studies at the University of Altdorf, then in Regensburg
- 1669🌍 Meanwhile
The Royal Academy of Music (Paris Opera) is founded
- 1673🎩 Careerage 20
Deputy organist at St Stephen’s Cathedral, Vienna
- 1677🎩 Careerage 24
Court organist in Eisenach, home of the Bach family
- 1683🎼 Workage 30
Loses his wife and son to plague; Musikalische Sterbens-Gedancken
- 1684❤️ Private lifeage 31
Marries Judith Drommer; teaches J. S. Bach’s elder brother
- 1687🌍 Meanwhile
Newton publishes the laws of gravitation
- 1699🎼 Workage 46
Hexachordum Apollinis, six arias with variations
- 1700🌍 Meanwhile
Bartolomeo Cristofori invents the piano in Florence (c. 1700)
- 1706🕯️ Deathage 53
Dies in Nuremberg on 3 March
- 1968🏛️ Landmark262 years after death
A recording makes the Canon a worldwide hit
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Excerpts of up to 90 seconds, freely licensed recordings from Wikimedia Commons.
Once upon a time…
Johann Pachelbel was born in Nuremberg, Germany, about three hundred and seventy years ago. He became an organist: he played the big organ in churches.
He was friends with Johann Sebastian Bach’s dad and gave lessons to Bach’s big brother. So a bit of his music found its way to the famous Bach!
Pachelbel wrote hundreds of pieces for organ. But today he is known mainly for just one: his Canon. In it a little eight-note bass repeats over and over while the violins play the same tune one after another.
You often hear it at weddings, and many modern songs use the same chords.
Johann Pachelbel’s instruments
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