Johann Pachelbel: Encyclopedia II - Johann Pachelbel - Life

Johann Pachelbel - Life

Pachelbel was born in Nuremberg and baptized September 1, 1653, which strongly indicates birth in August. He received early musical training from Heinrich Schwemmer, Cantor of the Church of Saint Sebald, and Georg Caspar Wecker, organist of the same church. At the age of fifteen, Pachelbel entered the university of Altdorf. During his stay in Altdorf, Pachelbel was both studying and serving as organist of one of the churches. Unfortunately, he was forced to leave the university after less than a year because of financial difficulties.

Later he became a scholarship student at the Gymnasium poeticum at Regensburg, where the school authorities, impressed by Pachelbel's academic qualifications and his advanced standing in music, permitted him to study music outside the gymnasium under Kaspar Prentz, a student of Johann Kaspar Kerll. In 1673 Pachelbel went to Vienna where he became a deputy organist of the Saint Stephen Cathedral (it is an interesting fact that Kerll moved to Vienna in 1673 as well, and since Pachelbel's music shows traces of Kerll's style, it is possible that Pachelbel was a student of Kerll. However, no substantial evidence proves this).

Pachelbel spent several years in Vienna, absorbing the music of composers from southern Germany and Italy, before moving to Eisenach in 1677, where he found employment as court organist under Kapellmeister Daniel Eberlin, in the employ of Prince Johann Georg, Duke of Saxe-Eisenach. He met the Bach family in Eisenach (home city of Johann Ambrosius Bach and birthplace of his many children), became a close friend of Johann Ambrosius and began tutoring his children the same year. This friendship continued when Pachelbel moved to Erfurt (see below): Pachelbel became godfather to Johann Ambrosius' daughter, Johanna Juditha, and taught Johann Christoph Bach music.

Pachelbel only spent one year in Eisenach before his patron's brother died—during the period of mourning court musicians were greatly curtailed and Pachelbel was left without employment. He requested a testimonial from Eberlin, who wrote one for him (in the document, Eberlin described Pachelbel as a 'perfect and rare virtuoso'). With this document, Pachelbel left Eisenach on 18 May 1678.

In June 1678, Pachelbel was employed as organist of Predigekirche (Preacher's Church) in Erfurt, where he remained for twelve years. Having already established his reputation as one of the most accomplished organists and composers of his time during his stay in Eisenach, Pachelbel became one of the leading German composers for organ when he was in Erfurt—partly due to the fact that his job duties specifically included composing (not improvising) chorale preludes, as well as composing a large scale work every year to demonstrate his progress as organist. Chorale preludes became the most characteristic products of his time at Erfurt.

During his stay in Erfurt, Pachelbel married twice. He married Barbara Gabler on 25 October 1681, but she and their son died in September 1683 during a plague. Pachelbel married his second wife, Judith Drommer, on 24 August 1684. They had five sons and two daughters. Two of his sons, Wilhelm Hieronymus Pachelbel and Charles Theodore Pachelbel, also became organ composers; another son, Johann Michael, became an instrument maker. One of his daughters, Amalia, achieved recognition as a painter and engraver.

Even though Pachelbel was outstandingly successful as organist, composer, and teacher at Erfurt, he asked for a permission to leave, apparently seeking a better appointment. He was formally released on 15 August 1690, and found employment in less than two weeks: from September 1, 1690 he was musician and organist at the Wurttemberg court at Stuttgart under the patronage of Duchess Magdalena Sibylla. The position was an improvement, but very soon Pachelbel was forced to flee before a French invasion. He returned to Nuremberg, then travelled to Gotha where he became town organist on 8 November.

Georg Caspar Wecker, Pachelbel's former teacher and organist of Saint Sebald in Nuremberg, died on April 20, 1695. The city authorities were so anxious to appoint Pachelbel—by then a celebrated native of the city—that the position at Saint Sebald, the most important of its kind in Nuremberg, was not filled by examination, nor were the organists of the city's lesser churches invited to apply. Instead, Pachelbel had received an official invitation from Saint Sebald and accepted it. He asked Gotha authorities to release him and arrived in Nuremberg sometime during summer 1695, his road expenses paid by the Nuremberg city council. He remained in Nuremberg until his death.

Adapted from the Wikipedia article "Life", under the G.N U Free Docmentation License. Please also see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki