Pachelbel’s Canon in D. You know it. I know it. It’s one of the most famous classical tunes in modern era.
Tonight stewOZ and I went to see the Australian Brandenburg Orchestra. The evening was reserved for Palazzo Baroque with a special guest from Italy - Maestro Federico Guglielmo.
It was simply marvellous.
I was however intrigued by the improvisation of Canon in D which appeared about halfway through the program. Most music students will know that Canon in D is one of the most fun pieces of music to improvise to. In Canon in D all the chords are diatonic which means you can use one scale - the D major scale - to improvise over that steady bass we've all come to recognise.
Most piano students have attempted such improvisation and once upon a time, I would spend several hours a day improvising over Canon in D. It was most fun :)
Needless to say when I arrived home tonight the first thing I did was open my piano lid and start improvising over Canon in D. Of course, my piano skills are nowhere comparable to Paul Dyer on his harpsichord. But it's nice to know and perhaps to dream, even for a second, that I share something in common with the Artistic Director of the Australian Brandenburg Orchestra.
