Johann Pachelbel, born in Nuremberg in 1653, a generation before Bach, is one of Southern Germany’s most important post-Reformation organ composers. His compositions were already widely known at the time. The most popular work today is probably the canon with ensuing gigue in D major. The canon – according to the source “a 3 Violinis con Basso c.” – is built up over an ostinato bass whose two bar figure is repeated a total of 28 times. The following short gigue is also in a strict contrapuntal style. It is not known when the work was composed. As with most of his other chamber music works, Pachelbel might have composed it during his time in Thuringia between 1677 and 1695. This pleasing work is also popular with amateur ensembles.
G. Henle Publishers stands for Urtext sheet music of the highest quality. The Urtext editions not only provide the undistorted and authoritative musical text but are also aesthetically pleasing, optimised for practical use and extremely durable. And then there is the strong, distinctive blue profile: (almost) all of the Urtext editions are bound in the characteristic blue cardboard.
Musicians trust Henle's blue Urtext editions because they:
- provide an undistorted, reliable and authoritative musical text
- offer superb, aesthetically appealing music engraving
- are optimised for practical use (page turns, fingerings)
- are of high quality and durable (cover, paper, binding)
- contain a short preface that introduces the work (particularly useful for AMEB exams) in German, English and French, as well as explanatory footnotes for particularly interesting passages in the score
- contain a description of the sources, an evaluation of the sources, readings and a documentation of the corrections made (= "Critical Report") in German and English, and often also in French
