Johann Pachelbel (1653 - 1706) 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. His music enjoyed enormous
popularity during his lifetime; he had many pupils and
his music became a model for the composers of south and
central German...(+)
Johann Pachelbel (1653 - 1706) 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. His music enjoyed enormous
popularity during his lifetime; he had many pupils and
his music became a model for the composers of south and
central Germany. Today, Pachelbel is best known for the
Canon in D; other well known works include the Chaconne
in F minor, the Toccata in E minor for organ, and the
Hexachordum Apollinis, a set of keyboard
variations.
Unlike his Canon in D Major, the gigue is set in 12/8
time and consists of 2 equal sections of 10 bars each.
Unlike the canon, the gigue neither has a repeating
bass voice nor a set chord progression. The gigue
exhibits fugal writing, with each section introducing a
brief melodic statement which is then imitated in the
other voices. Although the canon is intricate in its
own sense, and goes through a gradual evolution of
basic melody, becoming even more elaborate with
progression, the gigue accompanying the work is a
lively Baroque dance form, which was intended to follow
the canon and also crafted in the same key.
Source: Wikipedia
(https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pachelbel%27s_Canon).
Although originally composed for Organ, I created this
Interpretation of Gigue in D Major (P. 37) for String
Quartet (2 Violins, Viola & Cello).