From Baroque Classic to Rock Adaptation: The Resurgence of Pachelbel's Canon in D

Described by a music producer in 2002 as ‘almost the godfather of pop’, Johann Pachelbel was the veritable SD Burman of late 17th century Europe. His Canon in D, (over)familiar to many of us from far too many wedding scenes in romcoms, is a piece that gathers layers, lifting itself as it glides along.

The music is startlingly simple, three violins pressing out 28 varieties of the same melody over the bass line. Pachelbel’s cyclical tune unfolds like delicate sonic origami. The forth-and-back is calming, rousing, as if the world has turned to music.




Pachelbel’s most famous tune was immensely popular during his time. It then fell into obscurity… until an arrangement recorded by French conductor Jean-François Paillard in 1968 got 20th century ears pricked up. France-based Greek band Aphrodite’s Child made a rock adaptation of the baroque classic the same year, ‘Rain and Tears’, which reached No. 1 in various European countries.


Once it found its way on a San Francisco classical music radio station in 1970, it was only a matter of time that Canon in D would become a wedding ‘signature tune’. Thankfully, you can listen to Pachelbel’s delicate composition today without all that jazz.