Dip Your Ears, No. 176 (Pachelbel and the Organ)

J.Pachelbel, Complete Organ Works, volume 1 Christian Schmitt, Jürgen Essl, James David Christie, Michael Belotti CPO SACDs

Not the Canon in D

Known primarily for that lovely but hideously overplayed Canon in D, the considerable output of Johann Pachelbel (1653—1706) has been obscured from all but specialist-view. Listening to Pachelbel isn’t listening to a prequel of Johann Sebastian Bach’s Organ Works (who was more influenced by Buxtehude and Frescobaldi); instead it is a shifted parallel kind of enjoyment, lessened by subconscious comparison to Bach, but movingly enjoyable once the ears take that hurdle and let the “Catechism Songs”—Pachelbel’s choral settings—work their own subtle magic. Coupled with the hitherto sole Pachelbel recording of Wolfgang Rübsam (Naxos), this CPO box is a terrific start for the committed Baroque- and organ-maven!