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:
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May
7
Tuesday
Pearls of Classical Music in Prague Castle - Lobkowicz Palace
Time: 13:00
Prague Castle, Lobkowicz Palace
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May
7
Tuesday
Concert at Prague Castle - Mozart, Vivaldi and Pachelbel
Time: 17:30
Prague Castle, St. George's Basilica
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May
7
Tuesday
The Fascinating world of music between baroque, oper and operette
Time: 18:00
St. Nicholas Church in the Old Town Square
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May
7
Tuesday
Classic Spectacular in Mirror Chapel
Time: 18:00
Klementinum, Mirror Chapel
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May
7
Tuesday
Bolero, Carmina Burana
Time: 19:00
Spanish Synagogue
-
May
7
Tuesday
Famous Ave Maria for Soprano and Violin
Time: 19:00
St. Francis Church
-
May
7
Tuesday
Mozart Dinner - Your private opera in Prague
Time: 19:00
Boccaccio Ballroom
-
May
7
Tuesday
Vivaldi - The Four Seasons
Time: 19:00
Klementinum, St. Clement's Cathedral
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May
7
Tuesday
Classic Spectacular
Time: 19:30
Church of Our Lady before Tyn (Tyn Church)
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May
7
Tuesday
Vivaldi - The Four Seasons, Sarasate - Gypsy Airs op. 20
Time: 20:00
Municipal House (Obecní dům), Smetana hall
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May
7
Tuesday
Abrakadabra
Time: 20:00
Image - Black Light Theatre
-
May
7
Tuesday
The Four Seasons, Emperor Concerto & Chopin in Mirror Chapel
Time: 20:00
Klementinum, Mirror Chapel
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May
8
Wednesday
Pearls of Classical Music in Prague Castle - Lobkowicz Palace
Time: 13:00
Prague Castle, Lobkowicz Palace
-
May
8
Wednesday
Music of the Great Baroque Masters
Time: 18:00
St. Nicholas Church in the Old Town Square
-
May
8
Wednesday
Classic Spectacular in Mirror Chapel
Time: 18:00
Klementinum, Mirror Chapel
-
May
8
Wednesday
The Best of World and Czech Music
Time: 19:00
Spanish Synagogue
-
May
8
Wednesday
Famous Ave Maria, Czech Baroque Music
Time: 19:00
St. Francis Church
-
May
8
Wednesday
Classic Spectacular
Time: 19:30
Klementinum, St. Salvator Church (Charles Bridge)
-
May
8
Wednesday
The Best of Classic and Opera with Ballet
Time: 20:00
Municipal House (Obecní dům), Smetana hall
-
May
8
Wednesday
The Best of Image
Time: 20:00
Image - Black Light Theatre
-
May
8
Wednesday
WOW Show
Time: 20:00
WOW - Black Light Theatre
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May
9
Thursday
Pearls of Classical Music in Prague Castle - Lobkowicz Palace
Time: 13:00
Prague Castle, Lobkowicz Palace
-
May
9
Thursday
Classic Spectacular
Time: 17:30
Klementinum, St. Salvator Church (Charles Bridge)
-
May
9
Thursday
Music in the changes of the centuries with the soloists of the national theatre
Time: 18:00
St. Nicholas Church in the Old Town Square
-
May
9
Thursday
Classic Spectacular in Mirror Chapel
Time: 18:00
Klementinum, Mirror Chapel
-
May
9
Thursday
Hallelujah
Time: 19:00
Spanish Synagogue
-
May
9
Thursday
Ave Maria, Alleluja and Czech Music
Time: 19:00
St. Francis Church
-
May
9
Thursday
Mozart Dinner - Your private opera in Prague
Time: 19:00
Boccaccio Ballroom
-
May
9
Thursday
Vivaldi - The Four Seasons
Time: 19:00
Klementinum, St. Clement's Cathedral
-
May
9
Thursday
Afrikania
Time: 20:00
Image - Black Light Theatre
-
May
9
Thursday
The Great Classical Music
Time: 20:00
Municipal House (Obecní dům), Smetana hall
-
May
9
Thursday
The Four Seasons, Emperor Concerto & Chopin in Mirror Chapel
Time: 20:00
Klementinum, Mirror Chapel
-
May
10
Friday
Pearls of Classical Music in Prague Castle - Lobkowicz Palace
Time: 13:00
Prague Castle, Lobkowicz Palace
-
May
10
Friday
The Best of Classics
Time: 18:00
St. Nicholas Church in the Old Town Square
-
May
10
Friday
Classic Spectacular in Mirror Chapel
Time: 18:00
Klementinum, Mirror Chapel
-
May
10
Friday
Famous Ave Maria for Soprano and Violin
Time: 19:00
St. Francis Church
-
May
10
Friday
Classic Spectacular
Time: 19:30
Klementinum, St. Salvator Church (Charles Bridge)
-
May
10
Friday
Vivaldi Four Seasons
Time: 20:00
St. Giles Church
-
May
10
Friday
Abrakadabra
Time: 20:00
Image - Black Light Theatre
-
May
10
Friday
The Four Seasons, Emperor Concerto & Chopin in Mirror Chapel
Time: 20:00
Klementinum, Mirror Chapel
-
May
10
Friday
WOW Show
Time: 21:30
WOW - Black Light Theatre
-
May
11
Saturday
Pearls of Classical Music in Prague Castle - Lobkowicz Palace
Time: 13:00
Prague Castle, Lobkowicz Palace
-
May
11
Saturday
Vivaldi Four Seasons in Old Prague
Time: 17:00
St. Giles Church
-
May
11
Saturday
Beautiful Ave Maria Songs in the Changes of Time and much more
Time: 18:00
St. Nicholas Church in the Old Town Square
-
May
11
Saturday
Classic Spectacular in Mirror Chapel
Time: 18:00
Klementinum, Mirror Chapel
-
May
11
Saturday
Mozart Dinner - Your private opera in Prague
Time: 19:00
Boccaccio Ballroom
-
May
11
Saturday
Vivaldi - The Four Seasons
Time: 19:00
Klementinum, St. Clement's Cathedral
-
May
11
Saturday
Famous Ave Maria, Czech Baroque Music
Time: 19:00
St. Francis Church
-
May
11
Saturday
Classic Spectacular
Time: 19:30
Church of Our Lady before Tyn (Tyn Church)
-
May
11
Saturday
Classic Spectacular
Time: 19:30
Klementinum, St. Salvator Church (Charles Bridge)
-
May
11
Saturday
Music From Movies
Time: 20:00
Municipal House (Obecní dům), Smetana hall
-
May
11
Saturday
The Best of Image
Time: 20:00
Image - Black Light Theatre
-
May
11
Saturday
The Four Seasons, Emperor Concerto & Chopin in Mirror Chapel
Time: 20:00
Klementinum, Mirror Chapel
-
May
12
Sunday
Pearls of Classical Music in Prague Castle - Lobkowicz Palace
Time: 13:00
Prague Castle, Lobkowicz Palace
-
May
12
Sunday
Vivaldi Four Seasons
Time: 17:00
St. Giles Church
-
May
12
Sunday
Concert at Prague Castle - Mozart, Vivaldi and Pachelbel
Time: 17:30
Prague Castle, St. George's Basilica
-
May
12
Sunday
Classic Spectacular
Time: 17:30
Klementinum, St. Salvator Church (Charles Bridge)
-
May
12
Sunday
The Four Seasons, Gypsy Airs Op. 20
Time: 18:00
Municipal House (Obecní dům), Art Nouveau Hall
-
May
12
Sunday
Classic Spectacular in Mirror Chapel
Time: 18:00
Klementinum, Mirror Chapel
-
May
12
Sunday
Bolero, Carmina Burana
Time: 19:00
Spanish Synagogue