Pachelbel's Canon in D

Like Allegri, whose famed Miserere eclipsed everything else he achieved in his career, Johann Pachelbel's name is automatically linked to the ever-popular three- part Canon in D. Born in Nuremberg in the autumn of 1653, Pachelbel showed an early appetite for learning. In addition to school, he had two music teachers, one who introduced him to the fundamentals of music while the other taught him to play and compose. He was briefly at the University of Altdorf before taking a position in 1673 as assistant organist at the cathedral of St Stephen in Vienna. Four years later he became the court organist to the Duke of Saxe-Eisenach. He became restless here, and requesting a letter of reference from his employers, left after a year. His reference described him as a 'rare and perfect virtuoso'.
Subsequently Pachelbel became the organist at the Erfurt Predigerkirche, where he spent 12 happy years. His first wife succumbed to the plague, but within a year he had remarried and subsequently had...