History Music / PachelbelsCanon

A [[StandardSnippet very well-known piece]] of ClassicalMusic (technically BaroqueMusic). Written by Johann Pachelbel, it is the first movement of "Canon and Gigue in D", the less-famous second movement being more lively and dance-like. The canon involves a two-bar-long [[PachelbelsCanonProgression ostinato]] (repeating bass progression), over which three instrumental parts each play the same melodic material but starting at different times, [[ProgressiveInstrumentation each one displaced from the one before]] by a distance of two bars (one rotation of the ostinato) throughout the canon; this material is written in such a way that the three parts harmonize. The piece is usually performed with a string orchestra, but arrangements of it exist for almost every standard ensemble you can think of. Though Pachelbel was largely forgotten after his death (noted primarily for being a family friend/music tutor of the Bachs and thus indirectly influencing the works of [[Music/JohannSebastianBach J. S.]]), this piece's rediscovery in 1919 skyrocketed him to fame, albeit of the OneHitWonder variety.

Enjoy it by clicking [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8Af372EQLck here]]. Fun fact: The one we commonly hear about the canon is actually a rendition by the French conductor [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jean-Francois_Paillard Jean-François Paillard]] in 1969. What he did was slowed down the tempo and tuned it in Romantic style. [[https://youtu.be/soIQ52hkMXw Here]] is the rendition played according to the original manuscripts (which actually sounds a half-step lower, in the key of D-flat major[[note]]BaroqueMusic tuning was generally pitched lower than we're used to, around A415, although it varied widely; the modern standard of A440 was developed much later. [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Concert_pitch#History_of_pitch_standards_in_Western_music It's a long story]].[[/note]]).

It is also known by the names "Canon in D", "Pachelbel's Canon in D", and "Kanon D-dur" (the German name, meaning "D major Canon"). The piece is, of course, in D major--ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin. This hasn't stopped it from being [[MisattributedSong misattributed]] to everyone under the sun, particularly [[Music/WolfgangAmadeusMozart Mozart]].

It's commonly featured in collections of "light" or "soothing" music, and is often played at weddings, second only to LohengrinAndMendelssohn. It is also a popular selection for use in {{Public Domain Soundtrack}}s. It's the ''[[Music/LynyrdSkynyrd Free Bird]]'' of classical music, exacerbated by its own repetitiveness: [[PachelbelsCanonProgression cellists in particular detest it because it involves playing the same 8-note progression 27 times without variation]].

The piece is the {{Trope Namer|s}} and TropeCodifier for the PachelbelsCanonProgression.

By the way, "canon" the [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Canon_(music) musical term]] has nothing to do with "{{canon}}" the literary term for a creator's definitive body of work. Also, don't confuse it with pieces of music that use ''cannons,'' which you'll find under OrchestralBombing. Funnily enough, most versions nowadays [[NonIndicativeName aren't actually canons]].
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!!It has been used in the following works:

* Spanish film ''Film/BeginTheBeguine'' uses it as a RecurringRiff throughout.
* "Lullaby" by the string quartet Bond is an adaptation of the work.
* Music/BrianEno did three versions of the piece in his album ''Discreet Music''.
* The influence of the piece can be heard in many of Music/EmilieAutumn's songs, since as a child she would mentally play the piece each night to suppress her auditory hallucinations (as quoted from [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emilie_Autumn The Other Wiki]]). A few bars of the melody are shoehorned into "Save You", and the first half of the ostinato is used in "Ancient Grounds" and "Let the Record Show".
* It features in and is one of the themes of ''VisualNovel/{{Kanon}}'', which names itself after the piece.
* In the anime ''Anime/LuckyStar'', Tsukasa's ringtone sounds like a cheerier version of this.
* In the ''Anime/NeonGenesisEvangelion'' film ''[[CompilationMovie Evangelion: Death and Rebirth]]'', a recurring motif of the three main characters playing the piece is used to punctuate the recap portion. In fact, the sort-of framing sequence for the recap is the three characters (plus an EnsembleDarkhorse) getting together to practice the Canon (with ButtMonkey Shinji playing the cello).
-->'''Asuka''': Your part is easy. All ''you'' have to play is arpeggios.
* Comedian Rob Paravonian famously made a [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JdxkVQy7QLM rant]] about the piece, noting how boring it is to play the bass line as the cellist in the ensemble, as well as [[PachelbelsCanonProgression the progression's]] ubiquity in popular music (although [[Administrivia/SquarePegRoundTrope few of the examples given actually use the progression]]).
* ''WesternAnimation/SouthPark'' uses a SuspiciouslySimilarSong in the scene where Cartman has a tea party with his stuffed toys.
* Music/TayZonday's arrangement "[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RSCzMT8IMME Canon In Z]]."
* Music/TransSiberianOrchestra has ''two'' songs based on it: "Christmas Canon" from ''The Christmas Attic'', and "Christmas Canon Rock" from ''The Lost Christmas Eve''.
* ''[[Franchise/TheLegendOfZelda Pachelbel's]] [[IncrediblyLamePun Ganon]],'' an Music/OverclockedRemix track by djpretzel that rearranges Zelda's Lullaby and ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaOcarinaOfTime's'' opening theme in an R&B style, with this as its backing track.
* In ''WesternAnimation/TangledEverAfter'', it's the BGM for the opening narration.
* [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qNeBdp7L4_U "Canon Rock"]], a rock remix of the piece that quickly became popular on the Internet - to the point where newspapers took notice of it. Wiki/TheOtherWiki [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Canon_Rock_%28music%29 has an article.]]
* Another version that went viral was [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=khOfSVULtsU "Pachelbel's Chicken,"]] notable for being played entirely with ''rubber chickens.''
* A horribly distorted organ version appears in the creepiest part of ''VideoGame/BioshockInfinite''.
* In the year 2000, the piece was heavily sampled (albeit transposed down to C major) by Vitamin C for her hit "Graduation (Friends Forever)", which resulted in ParodyDisplacement for millions of millennials who associate the Canon with their high school graduations.[[invoked]]
* It's used as a theme in ''Film/OrdinaryPeople''.
* Kevin Bacon's character plays it briefly on trumpet in ''Film/QueensLogic''.
* Used during the "not-wedding" on ''Series/{{Charmed|1998}}'' in Season 3.
* Used as background music during "Decomposing Composers" by Creator/MichaelPalin sang on Creator/MontyPython's ''Audioplay/MontyPythonsContractualObligationAlbum''.
* Used in the final episode of ''WebAnimation/LlamasWithHats'' [[spoiler:from the point where Carl discovers Paul's dead body until Carl kills himself.]]
* Used as background music in ''WebAnimation/ZeroPunctuation'' star Creator/BenCroshaw's ''WebVideo/JudgingByTheCover'' series.
* The first two games in the ''VideoGame/{{Atelier}}'' series make use of it for their hardest to attain endings.
* "Canon D (Part of the Memories #1)", one of the [[PublicDomainSoundtrack tracks]] composed for the ''VideoGame/PumpItUp'' series by Andamiro's in-house band [=BanYa=], with a regular and full track version (a first for the game's original tunes). The song is highly popular with ''Pump It Up'' fans, not only for the song's Classical rock-style melody, but because of the [[{{Animesque}} anime-style]] video that accompanies it, for both having animation that's considered to be higher quality than most other [=BGAs=] in the franchise and for its narrative. The video is even the Trope page for the game! A later remix called Canon X.1 was later released, only it's not a follow up to the first story (despite the video officially being titled Canon-D Part of the Memories #1), and instead tells a separate story that's [[ShoutOut inspired by]] ''Anime/NeonGenesisEvangelion''.
* A skit on ''Radio/JohnFinnemoresSouvenirProgramme'' portrayed Pachelbel himself as [[CreatorBacklash utterly sick]] of the Canon, being much more enthusiastic about his Fugue, his Sonata, or his [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hexachordum_Apollinis Hexachordum Apollinis]], eventually being forced to play it and singing about how much it annoyed him that this was all he was remembered for. ("All that it does is go dooby-dooby-dooby-dooby...")
* ''VideoGame/Mother3'' uses it in the theme of the Magypsies.
* Goldenrod City in ''VideoGame/PokemonGoldAndSilver'' and its remakes utilizes it.
* The "Perfect Christmas" song from ''[[WesternAnimation/{{Arthur}} Arthur's Perfect Christmas]]'' opens with Arthur playing it on the piano before transitioning to a more upbeat, livelier tune.
* In ''PodCast/Wolf359'', Eiffel goes on a rant about this song, referring to it as "The Mind Eraser" because it is such an EarWorm that it will push any and all troubling thoughts about being trapped aboard a space station as part of some poorly-explained mission sponsored by a boss that you're ''pretty sure'' [[CorruptCorporateExecutive is at least kind-of-evil]] from your head.
* ''Series/HospitalPlaylist'': In a flashback to 1999, Seok-hyung demonstrates his proficiency on keyboards to the rest of the band by playing Pachelbel's Canon. Then, in a scene set 20 years later, the whole FiveManBand plays Pachelbel's Canon together in an up-tempo rock arrangement.
* Music/ThePianoGuys have their own version, [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LV5_xj_yuhs&ab_channel=ThePianoGuys Rockelbel's Canon]]. And prior to joining the group, member John Schmidt had his own version, [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=psFpCky6CMA&ab_channel=JonSchmidt-Topic Pachelbel Meets U2]], which blends "Canon in D" with U2's "With or Without You."
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* ''Series/HospitalPlaylist'': In a flashback to 1999, Seok-hyung demonstrates his proficiency on keyboards to the rest of the band by playing Pachelbel's Canon. Then, in a scene set 20 years later, the whole FIveManBand plays Pachelbel's Canon together in an up-tempo rock arrangement.

* In the year 2000, the piece was heavily sampled (albeit transposed down to C major) by Vitamin C for her hit "Graduation (Friends Forever)", which resulted in the WeirdAlEffect for millions of millennials who associate the Canon with their high school graduations.[[invoked]]

* Used as background music in ''WebAnimation/ZeroPunctuation'' star Creator/BenCroshaw's ''Judging By The Cover'' series.

* Used as background music in ''WebAnimation/ZeroPunctuation'' star Creator/BenCroshaw's new Escapist format ''Judging By The Cover''.

* In [[Disney/{{Tangled}} Tangled Ever After]], it's the BGM for the opening narration.

* "Canon D (Part of the Memories #1)", one of the [[PublicDomainSoundtrack tracks]] composed for the ''VideoGame/PumpItUp'' series by Andamiro's in-house band [=BanYa=], with a regular and full track version (a first for the game's original tunes). The song is highly popular with ''Pump It Up'' fans, not only for the song's Classical rock-style melody, but because of the [[{{Animesque}} anime-style]] video that accompanies it, for both having [[SugarWiki/VisualEffectsofAwesome animation that's considered to be higher quality than most other BGAs in the franchise]] and for its narrative that provides doses of TearJerker and SugarWiki/{{Heartwarming|Moments}}. The video is even the Trope page for the game! A later remix called Canon X.1 was later released, only it's not a follow up to the first story (despite the video officially being titled Canon-D Part of the Memories #1), and instead tells a separate story that's [[ShoutOut inspired by]] ''Anime/NeonGenesisEvangelion''.

* Comedian Rob Paravonian famously made a [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JdxkVQy7QLM rant]] about the piece, noting how boring it is to play the bass line as the cellist in the ensemble, as well as [[PachelbelsCanonProgression the progression's]] ubiquity in popular music (although [[SquarePegRoundTrope few of the examples given actually use the progression]]).

* Used during the "not-wedding" on ''Series/{{Charmed}}'' in Season 3.