Editing Johann Pachelbel (section)

===Chamber music===
Pachelbel's [[chamber music]] is much less virtuosic than [[Heinrich Ignaz Biber|Biber]]'s ''Mystery Sonatas'' or [[Dieterich Buxtehude|Buxtehude]]'s Opus 1 and Opus 2 chamber sonatas. The famous [[Pachelbel's Canon|Canon in D]] belongs to this genre, as it was originally scored for 3 violins and a [[basso continuo]], and paired with a gigue in the same key. The [[Canon (music)|canon]] shares an important quality with the [[chaconne]] and [[passacaglia]]: it consists of a [[ground bass]] over which the violins play a three-voice canon based on a simple theme, the violins' parts form 28 [[Variation (music)|variations]] of the melody. The gigue which originally accompanied the canon is a simple piece that uses strict [[Fugue|fugal]] writing.

''[[Musicalische Ergötzung]]'' ("Musical Delight") is a set of six chamber [[suite (music)|suite]]s for two [[scordatura]] violins and [[basso continuo]] published sometime after 1695. At the time, scordatura tuning was used to produce special effects and execute tricky passages. However, Pachelbel's collection was intended for amateur violinists, and scordatura tuning is used here as a basic introduction to the technique. Scordatura only involves the [[tonic (music)|tonic]], [[dominant (music)|dominant]] and sometimes the [[subdominant]] notes.

Each suite of ''Musikalische Ergötzung'' begins with an introductory ''Sonata'' or ''Sonatina'' in one movement. In suites 1 and 3 these introductory movements are ''Allegro'' three-voice [[fugue|fughettas]] and [[stretto|stretti]]. The other four sonatas are reminiscent of [[French overture]]s. They have two ''Adagio'' sections which juxtapose slower and faster rhythms: the first section uses patterns of [[Dotted note|dotted]] [[quarter note|quarter]] and [[eighth notes]] in a non-[[Imitation (music)|imitative]] manner. The second employs the violins in an imitative, sometimes homophonic structure, that uses shorter [[note value]]s. The dance movements of the suites show traces of Italian (in the gigues of suites 2 and 6) and German ([[allemande]] appears in suites 1 and 2) influence, but the majority of the movements are clearly influenced by the [[Music of France|French]] style. The suites do not adhere to a fixed structure: the allemande is only present in two suites, the gigues in four, two suites end with a [[chaconne]], and the fourth suite contains two [[aria]]s.

Pachelbel's other chamber music includes an aria and variations (''Aria con variazioni in A major'') and four standalone suites scored for a [[string quartet]] or a typical French five-part string ensemble with 2 violins, 2 violas and a [[violone]] (the latter reinforces the basso continuo). Of these, the five-part suite in G major (''Partie a 5 in G major'') is a variation suite, where each movement begins with a theme from the opening sonatina; like its four-part cousin (''Partie a 4 in G major'') and the third standalone suite (''Partie a 4 in F-sharp minor'') it updates the German suite model by using the latest French dances such as the [[gavotte]] or the ballet. The three pieces mentioned all end with a ''Finale'' movement. ''Partie a 4 in G major'' features no figuration for the lower part, which means that it was not a basso continuo and that, as Jean M. Perreault writes, "this work may well count as the first true string quartet, at least within the Germanophone domain."{{sfn|Perreault|2004|p=224}}