Pachelbel’s Canon in D Major is one of the most famous and recognizable pieces in Western classical music. Composed by Johann Pachelbel (1653–1706), this baroque masterpiece has become iconic, especially in weddings and other ceremonial settings.
The “Canon” in D Major is written in a form known as canon or round. This means that a musical line is introduced by one voice and then imitated in exact intervals by other voices. In this case, the canon involves three violins playing imitative counterpoint over a ground bass—a repeating bass line played by the basso continuo (often a cello or harpsichord). To play the repeating bass line beautifully, focus on smooth bowing with little interruption between the notes. The long legato lines in the ground bass should be fluid.
