1964 Casavant at the Church of Saint Pascal de Kamouraska, Quebec, Canada

Some of you might know him as a one-piece composer, but Johann Pachelbel, the pride of Nuremberg, wrote many other works beyond the ubiquitous Canon in D. On our next Pipedreams program, we’ll explore that extensive other repertoire, which includes splendid variation chains from which the young Bach learned a thing or two, elaborate chorale-preludes, modest miniatures for the vespers Magnificat, and splendid virtuoso showpieces that show off the sounds of 10 different instruments. Joseph Payne, Marilyn Mason, and Antoine Bouchard share excerpts from their complete CD cycles, too.

His name is nearly ubiquitous because of a strangely beguiling piece of chamber music. This week, we’ll leave that piece alone and explore more of the music by the late 17th century master Johann Pachelbel. First in Eisenach, then in Erfurt, Pachelbel maintained friendly ties to the Bach family, and was the principal teacher of Johann Christoph Bach, who in turn used Pachelbel’s music as ideal example when teaching his orphaned younger brother, Johann Sebastian. Barbara Harbach, Antoine Bouchard, Joseph Payne, Wolfgang Rübsam, Marilyn Mason and Olivier Vernet explore the many nuances inherent in these variations sets, fugues, toccatas and fantasias, and reinvigorate these pages from centuries ago. Tune in for the Pachelbel Players.

This week we celebrate the 125th anniversary of Canada’s most prominent organ maker: Casavant Frères.

…an exploration of the many sorts of composition that you find under the generic, historic title "Ricercar".