Johann Pachelbel
(1653 - 1706)
Johann Pachelbel (September 1, 1653 - March 9, 1706) was born in Nuremberg, then one of the so-called "free" imperial cities and a great center of learning and culture, a took instructions from Heinrich Schwemmer. After leaving school in 1669, he spent a year in Altdorf before moving to Regensburg where he began to make valuable contacts with musicians associated with the Austrian Court in Vienna. By 1673 he was living in Vienna, where he was deputy organist at St. Stephen's Cathedral and took music lessons with Johann Kaspar Kerll, who fashioned Pachelbel's sophisticated organ style. The younger man often deputized for Kerll on the organ of the Predigerkirche.
Enjoy classical concerts of Pachelbel music in Prague. Book tickets online >>>
In 1677 Pachelbel left Vienna and began a peripatetic period in his life where he held the organ position in churches in many towns across the central and southern German states, including Eisenach and Erfurt (where he came into contact with the Bach family, including Ambrosius Bach, Johann Sebastian Bach's father), Stuttgart and Gotha. He remained in Gotha from 1692-95, then return to his home city of Nuremburg, this time on a substantially different footing than when he had left it; Pachelbel was by now a famous and influential figure in the world of music, his especial skill in composition – his infinitely inventive creation of chorale variations stressing the importance of cantabile and clarity of line – proving especially popular and definitive in the world of organ music at that time. His many pupils included Johann Sebastian Bach's elder brother Johann Christoph, who was one of many to digest his methodology and carry his compositional message to others.
Pachelbel had return to Nuremberg to succeed to his old teacher Georg Kaspar Wecker at the church of St. Sebaldus, a position he retained until his death at the age of 52. Most of his music was written for the organ, but some of his earliest surviving works are a set of motets including Nun danket alle Gott and Der Herr ist König, written during his time in Erfurt, which are a models of clarity and tunefulness. His greatest compositional achievement is generally recognized to be the Hexachordum Apollinis of 1699, six sets of keyboard variations on various aria, but other worthy efforts include Musikalische Stephens-Gedanken of 1683 and the Musikalische Ergötzung (1695), a series of dance suites written for string trio which were meant for the type of domestic entertainment at court or among musical colleagues supplied in a later generation by Georg Philipp Telemann's Tafelmusik. It would seem that the famed Canon and Gigue for three violins and bass continuo was probably written for a similar Hausmusik function; its orchestration occurred much later.
Upcoming classical concerts of the composer's music in Prague:
-
Jul
15
Tuesday
Pearls of Classical Music in Prague Castle - Lobkowicz Palace
Time: 13:00
Prague Castle, Lobkowicz Palace
-
Jul
15
Tuesday
Vivaldi Four Seasons
Time: 16:30
St. Giles Church
-
Jul
15
Tuesday
Famous Classic and broadway favorites
Time: 18:00
St. Nicholas Church in the Old Town Square
-
Jul
15
Tuesday
Classic Spectacular in Mirror Chapel
Time: 18:00
Klementinum, Mirror Chapel
-
Jul
15
Tuesday
Mozart Dinner - Your private opera in Prague
Time: 19:00
Boccaccio Ballroom
-
Jul
15
Tuesday
Vivaldi - The Four Seasons
Time: 19:00
Klementinum, St. Clement's Cathedral
-
Jul
15
Tuesday
Classic Spectacular
Time: 19:30
Church of Our Lady before Tyn (Tyn Church)
-
Jul
15
Tuesday
Classic Spectacular
Time: 19:30
Klementinum, St. Salvator Church (Charles Bridge)
-
Jul
15
Tuesday
Cosmic Cabinet
Time: 20:00
Image - Black Light Theatre
-
Jul
15
Tuesday
WOW Show
Time: 20:00
WOW - Black Light Theatre
-
Jul
15
Tuesday
The most beautiful musical melodies
Time: 20:00
Spanish Synagogue
-
Jul
16
Wednesday
Pearls of Classical Music in Prague Castle - Lobkowicz Palace
Time: 13:00
Prague Castle, Lobkowicz Palace
-
Jul
16
Wednesday
The Best of Classics
Time: 18:00
St. Nicholas Church in the Old Town Square
-
Jul
16
Wednesday
Classic Spectacular in Mirror Chapel
Time: 18:00
Klementinum, Mirror Chapel
-
Jul
16
Wednesday
Afrikania
Time: 18:00
Image - Black Light Theatre
-
Jul
16
Wednesday
Classic Spectacular
Time: 19:30
Klementinum, St. Salvator Church (Charles Bridge)
-
Jul
16
Wednesday
The Best of World and Czech Music
Time: 20:00
Spanish Synagogue
-
Jul
16
Wednesday
The Best of Swan Lake - P. I. Tchaikovsky
Time: 20:00
Broadway Theatre
-
Jul
16
Wednesday
Afrikania
Time: 20:00
Image - Black Light Theatre
-
Jul
17
Thursday
Pearls of Classical Music in Prague Castle - Lobkowicz Palace
Time: 13:00
Prague Castle, Lobkowicz Palace
-
Jul
17
Thursday
Vivaldi Four Seasons in Old Prague
Time: 16:30
St. Giles Church
-
Jul
17
Thursday
Famous Classic and broadway favorites
Time: 18:00
St. Nicholas Church in the Old Town Square
-
Jul
17
Thursday
Classic Spectacular in Mirror Chapel
Time: 18:00
Klementinum, Mirror Chapel
-
Jul
17
Thursday
Mozart Dinner - Your private opera in Prague
Time: 19:00
Boccaccio Ballroom
-
Jul
17
Thursday
Vivaldi - The Four Seasons
Time: 19:00
Klementinum, St. Clement's Cathedral
-
Jul
17
Thursday
Classic Spectacular
Time: 19:30
Klementinum, St. Salvator Church (Charles Bridge)
-
Jul
17
Thursday
Hallelujah
Time: 20:00
Spanish Synagogue
-
Jul
17
Thursday
The Best of Classics
Time: 20:00
Municipal House (Obecní dům), Smetana hall
-
Jul
17
Thursday
WOW Show
Time: 20:00
WOW - Black Light Theatre
-
Jul
17
Thursday
The Best of Image
Time: 20:00
Image - Black Light Theatre
-
Jul
18
Friday
Pearls of Classical Music in Prague Castle - Lobkowicz Palace
Time: 13:00
Prague Castle, Lobkowicz Palace
-
Jul
18
Friday
Famous Concert for organ and orchestra
Time: 18:00
St. Nicholas Church in the Old Town Square
-
Jul
18
Friday
Classic Spectacular in Mirror Chapel
Time: 18:00
Klementinum, Mirror Chapel
-
Jul
18
Friday
Mozart Dinner - Your private opera in Prague
Time: 19:00
Boccaccio Ballroom
-
Jul
18
Friday
Classic Spectacular
Time: 19:30
Klementinum, St. Salvator Church (Charles Bridge)
-
Jul
18
Friday
Strauss, Mozart, Dvorak & Opera with Ballet
Time: 20:00
Municipal House (Obecní dům), Smetana hall
-
Jul
18
Friday
WOW Show
Time: 20:00
WOW - Black Light Theatre
-
Jul
18
Friday
The Four Seasons, Emperor Concerto & Chopin in Mirror Chapel with piano
Time: 20:00
Klementinum, Mirror Chapel
-
Jul
18
Friday
Abrakadabra
Time: 20:00
Image - Black Light Theatre
-
Jul
19
Saturday
Pearls of Classical Music in Prague Castle - Lobkowicz Palace
Time: 13:00
Prague Castle, Lobkowicz Palace