VOL. 08 · Track 9 · 9 / 15
Canon
A piece in which three violins take up the same melody in turn over a two-bar bass repeated twenty-eight times. Long forgotten, it became widely loved in the twentieth century.
VOL. 08
Fifteen Before Sleep잠들기 전 열다섯 곡This track plays with a membership. Tracks 1 and 2 are open to everyone.About membership
About this piece
Eight low notes walk slowly by. And those eight notes repeat twenty-eight times without a single change until the piece ends. Above them three violins take up the same melody in turn and grow more and more elaborate.
At a glance
- What it isthe first part of the Canon and Gigue in D major for three violins and bass. A canon is a round in which several parts sing the same melody, one after another.
- Who, when, whywe know only that Pachelbel wrote it; when and for what purpose are unknown.
- What to listen forthe unchanging bass, and the violins' notes being divided ever more finely above it.
Listen for
- The bass patha low instrument such as the cello walks the eight notes D, A, B, F-sharp, G, D, G, A. Remember this path and the whole piece opens up.
- The roundthe first violin begins the melody; two bars later the second, and two bars after that the third enter with the same melody.
- Finer and finerthe melody begins in long notes and is broken into ever shorter, faster notes, growing more ornate, while the bass keeps walking the same way.
When it was written
The score of the Canon survives in a copy made in the nineteenth century. It was first published only in 1919, and it became known worldwide when a 1968 recording by a French chamber orchestra, at a slow tempo, became hugely popular.
The bass and chord progression of this piece were later used, in similar form, in many popular songs. A path of harmony more than three hundred years old is still being walked in the songs of today.
A question to think about
The Canon repeats the same eight notes twenty-eight times, yet it never grows dull because the melody above keeps changing a little. Music comes alive when repetition and change go together.
In a life that repeats itself much the same each day, what small changes keep us from growing weary? What is needed for repeated tasks to feel meaningful?