Piano Solo - Level 3 - Digital Download
SKU: A0.1276116
By Michael Swedberg. By Johann Pachelbel. Arranged by Terrence Niska. 21st Century,Classical,New Age,Pop. Score. 8 pages. Niska Music Publishing #867876. Published by Niska Music Publishing (A0.1276116).
One of the earliest CDs I bought was a CBS Great Performances disc entitled “Pachelbel’s Canon: Baroque Favorites.” I can recall listening to it over and over. Among my favorites were Handel’s “The Arrival of the Queen of Sheba,” Mouret’s “Rondeau,” Albinoni’s “Adagio for Strings and Organ in G minor (which I later discovered was actually written by Remo Giazotto in 1958), and, of course, Pachelbel’s Canon in D.
The Canon has been a source of musical inspiration to a great number of artists over the years including Maroon 5’s “Memories” in 2019 and George Winston’s “Variations on the Kanon by Johann Pachelebel” from his 1982 album December.
My arrangement is a series of variations starting with a simple statement of the chord progression and gradually making use of the themes as the piece progresses. In this respect, it is more of a chaconne than a true canon. (A chaconne being a type of musical composition which uses a repeated short harmonic progression as a vehicle for variations and melodic invention). It eventually works its way to a section of forte chords based on the rhythm of the second theme before gradually returning to a simpler use of the chords and bass line from the opening.
