Pachelbel's Canon is an accompanied canon by the German Baroque composer Johann Pachelbel. The canon was originally scored for three violins and basso continuo and paired with a gigue, known as Canon and Gigue for 3 violins and basso continuo. Both movements are in the key of D major. Although a true canon at the unison in three parts, it also has elements of a chaconne. Neither the date nor the circumstances of its composition are known, and the oldest surviving manuscript copy of the piece dates from 1838 to 1842.
First page of manuscript 16481-8 at Berlin State Library—oldest surviving copy of Pachelbel's "Canon and Gigue in D major"
Johann Pachelbel 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.
St. Sebaldus Church, Nuremberg, which played an important role in Pachelbel's life
Predigerkirche, the Erfurt church, where Pachelbel worked for 12 years, starting in 1678
Pachelbel's letter
Pachelbel's tomb at the St. Rochus Cemetery in Nuremberg