Editing Johann Pachelbel (section)

==Works==
:''Apart from harpsichord suites, this section concentrates only on the works whose ascription is not questioned. For a complete list of works which includes pieces with questionable authorship and lost compositions, see [[List of compositions by Johann Pachelbel]].''

During his lifetime, Pachelbel was best known as an organ composer. He wrote more than two hundred pieces for the instrument, both [[Liturgy|liturgical]] and secular, and explored most of the genres that existed at the time. Pachelbel was also a prolific vocal music composer: around a hundred of such works survive, including some 40 large-scale works. Only a few chamber music pieces by Pachelbel exist, although he might have composed many more, particularly while serving as court musician in Eisenach and Stuttgart.

Several principal sources exist for Pachelbel's music, although none of them as important as, for example, the Oldham manuscript is for [[Louis Couperin]]. Among the more significant materials are several manuscripts that were lost before and during World War II but partially available as [[microfilm]]s of the Winterthur collection, a two-volume manuscript currently in possession of the Oxford [[Bodleian Library]] which is a major source for Pachelbel's late work, and the first part of the ''Tabulaturbuch'' (1692, currently at the [[Biblioteka Jagiellońska]] in [[Kraków]]) compiled by Pachelbel's pupil {{interlanguage link|Johann Valentin Eckelt|ca}}, which includes the only known Pachelbel autographs). The [[Neumeister Collection]] and the so-called Weimar tablature of 1704 provide valuable information about Pachelbel's school, although they do not contain any pieces that can be confidently ascribed to him.

Currently, there is no standard numbering system for Pachelbel's works. Several catalogues are used, by Antoine Bouchard (POP numbers, organ works only), Jean M. Perreault (P numbers, currently the most complete catalogue; organized alphabetically), Hideo Tsukamoto (T numbers, L for lost works; organized thematically) and Kathryn Jane Welter (PC numbers).

===Keyboard music===
Much of Pachelbel's [[Liturgy|liturgical]] organ music, particularly the [[chorale prelude]]s, is relatively simple and written for [[Manual (music)|manuals]] only: no [[Pedal clavier|pedal]] is required. This is partly due to [[Lutheran]] religious practice where congregants sang the chorales. Household instruments like [[virginals]] or [[clavichord]]s accompanied the singing, so Pachelbel and many of his contemporaries made music playable using these instruments. The quality of the organs Pachelbel used also played a role: south German instruments were not, as a rule, as complex and as versatile as the north German ones, and Pachelbel's organs must have only had around 15 to 25 stops on two manuals (compare to [[Dieterich Buxtehude|Buxtehude]]'s [[St. Mary's Church, Lübeck|Marienkirche]] instrument with 52 stops, 15 of them in the pedal). Finally, neither the Nuremberg nor the [[German organ schools|southern German organ tradition]] endorsed extensive use of pedals seen in the works by composers of the northern German school.

Only two volumes of Pachelbel's organ music were published and distributed during his lifetime: ''Musikalische Sterbens-Gedancken'' (Musical Thoughts on Death; Erfurt, 1683)&nbsp;– a set of chorale variations in memory of his deceased wife and child, and ''Acht Choräle'' (Nuremberg, 1693).<ref>Wendy Thompson, [[Basil Smallman]] [http://www.oxfordreference.com/view/10.1093/acref/9780199579037.001.0001/acref-9780199579037-e-4935 "Pachelbel, Johann"], ''The Oxford Companion to Music.'' Ed. Alison Latham. Oxford University Press, 2002. Oxford Reference Online. Oxford University Press. Accessed 4 November 2018 {{subscription required}}</ref> Pachelbel employed [[white mensural notation]] when writing out numerous compositions (several chorales, all [[ricercar]]s, some [[Fantasia (music)|fantasias]]); a notational system that uses hollow [[Note (music)|note]] heads and omits [[Bar (music)|bar lines]] (measure delimiters).<ref name="notation">{{Cite Grove |last=Chew |first=Geoffrey |last2=Rastall |first2=Richard |author-link=Geoffrey Chew (musicologist) |title=Notation, §III, 4(i): Mensural notation from 1500: General}}</ref> The system had been widely used since the 15th century but was gradually being replaced in this period by modern notation (sometimes called ''black notation'').<ref name = "notation" />

====Chorale preludes====
Chorale preludes constitute almost half of Pachelbel's surviving organ works, in part because of his Erfurt job duties which required him to compose chorale preludes on a regular basis. The models Pachelbel used most frequently are the three-part [[cantus firmus]] setting, the chorale fugue and, most importantly, a model he invented which combined the two types. This latter type begins with a brief chorale [[fugue]] that is followed by a three- or four-part cantus firmus setting. Chorale phrases are treated one at a time, in the order in which they occur; frequently, the accompanying voices anticipate the next phrase by using bits of the melody in imitative counterpoint. An example from ''Wenn mein Stündlein vorhanden ist'':

[[File:Pachelbel-chorale-wenn-mein.png|thumb|350px|Example from "Wenn mein Stündlein vorhanden ist" of Pachelbel's chorales, bars 35–54. The chorale in the soprano is highlighted.]]

The piece begins with a chorale fugue (not shown here) that turns into a four-part chorale setting which starts at bar 35. The slow-moving chorale (the ''cantus firmus'', i.e., the original [[hymn tune]]) is in the soprano, and is highlighted in blue. The lower voices anticipate the shape of the second phrase of the chorale in an imitative fashion (notice the distinctive pattern of two repeated notes). Pachelbel wrote numerous chorales using this model ("Auf meinen lieben Gott", "Ach wie elend ist unsre Zeit", "Wenn mein Stündlein vorhanden ist", etc.), which soon became a standard form.

A distinctive feature of almost all of Pachelbel's chorale preludes is his treatment of the melody: the cantus firmus features virtually no figuration or ornamentation of any kind, always presented in the plainest possible way in one of the outer voices. Pachelbel's knowledge of both ancient and contemporary chorale techniques is reflected in ''Acht Choräle zum Praeambulieren'', a collection of eight chorales he published in 1693. It included, among other types, several chorales written using outdated models. Of these, "Nun lob, mein Seel, den Herren" is based on [[Nun lob, mein Seel, den Herren|the hymn]] by [[Johann Gramann]], a paraphrase of [[Psalm 103]]; it is one of the very few Pachelbel chorales with cantus firmus in the tenor. "{{lang|de|[[Wir glauben all an einen Gott]]|italic=no}}" is a three-part setting with melodic ornamentation of the chorale melody, which Pachelbel employed very rarely. Finally, "Jesus Christus, unser Heiland der von uns" is a typical [[bicinium]] chorale with one of the hands playing the unadorned chorale while the other provides constant fast-paced accompaniment written mostly in [[sixteenth note]]s.

{{listen|type=music
 | filename     = Johann Pachelbel Nun komm der Heiden Heiland.ogg
 | title        = Nun komm der Heiden Heiland
 | description  = Performed on a church organ in [[Trubschachen]], Switzerland by Burghard Fischer
 | filename2    = Pachelbel Ach Gott vom Himmel, sieh darein.ogg
 | title2       = Ach Gott vom Himmel, sieh darein
 | description2 =
}}

====Fugues====
Pachelbel wrote more than one hundred fugues on free themes. These fall into two categories: some 30 free fugues and around 90 of the so-called Magnificat Fugues. His fugues are usually based on non-thematic material, and are shorter than the later model (of which those of [[Johann Sebastian Bach|J. S. Bach]] are a prime example). The contrapuntal devices of [[stretto]], diminution and [[Inversion (music)|inversion]] are very rarely employed in any of them. Nevertheless, Pachelbel's fugues display a tendency towards a more unified, subject-dependent structure which was to become the key element of late Baroque fugues. Given the number of fugues he composed and the extraordinary variety of subjects he used, Pachelbel is regarded as one of the key composers in the evolution of the form. He was also the first major composer to pair a fugue with a preludial movement (a toccata or a prelude)&nbsp;– this technique was adopted by later composers and was used extensively by J. S. Bach.

The Magnificat Fugues were all composed during Pachelbel's final years in Nuremberg. The singing of the [[Magnificat]] at [[Vespers]] was usually accompanied by the organist, and earlier composers provided examples of Magnificat settings for organ, based on themes from the chant. Pachelbel's fugues, however, are almost all based on free themes and it is not yet understood exactly where they fit during the service. It is possible that they served to help singers establish [[Pitch (music)|pitch]], or simply act as introductory pieces played before the beginning of the service. There are 95 pieces extant, covering all eight [[church modes]]: 23 in ''primi toni'', 10 in ''secundi toni'', 11 in ''tertii toni'', 8 in ''quarti toni'', 12 in ''quinti toni'', 10 in ''sexti toni'', 8 in ''septimi toni'' and 13 in ''octavi toni''. Although a few two- and four-voice works are present, most employ three voices (sometimes expanding to four-voice polyphony for a [[Bar (music)|bar]] or two). With the exception of the three double fugues (primi toni No. 12, sexti toni No. 1 and octavi toni No. 8), all are straightforward pieces, frequently in [[common time]] and comparatively short&nbsp;– at an average tempo, most take around a minute and a half to play.

[[File:Pachelbel-mfugues-subjects.png|right|thumb|300px|Fugue subjects from Magnificat fugues: secundi toni 7, octavi toni 10, primi toni 16, sexti toni 10, quarti toni 8 and octavi toni 13]]

Although most of them are brief, the subjects are extremely varied (see Example 1). Frequently some form of note repetition is used to emphasize a rhythmic (rather than melodic) contour. Many feature a dramatic leap (up to an octave), which may or may not be mirrored in one of the voices sometime during an episode&nbsp;– a characteristic Pachelbel technique, although it was also employed by earlier composers, albeit less pronounced. Minor alterations to the subject between the entries are observed in some of the fugues, and simple countersubjects occur several times. An interesting technique employed in many of the pieces is an occasional resort to ''[[style brisé]]'' for a few bars, both during episodes and in codas. The double fugues exhibit a typical three-section structure: fugue on subject 1, fugue on subject 2, and the [[counterpoint]] with simultaneous use of both subjects.

[[File:Pachelbel-fugue-subject-gmin.png|right|thumb|300px|A typical Pachelbel repercussion subject. {{Audio|Pachelbel G minor fugue subject.ogg|Listen}}]]

Most of Pachelbel's free fugues are in three or four voices, with the notable exception of two [[Bicinium|bicinia]] pieces. Pachelbel frequently used repercussion subjects of different kinds, with note repetition sometimes extended to span a whole measure (such as in the subject of a G minor fugue, see illustration). Some of the fugues employ textures more suited for the [[harpsichord]], particularly those with broken chord figuration. The three [[ricercar]]s Pachelbel composed, that are more akin to his fugues than to ricercars by [[Girolamo Frescobaldi|Frescobaldi]] or Froberger, are perhaps more technically interesting. In the original sources, all three use white notation and are marked [[alla breve]]. The polythematic C minor ricercar is the most popular and frequently performed and recorded. It is built on two contrasting themes (a slow chromatic pattern and a lively simplistic motif) that appear in their normal and inverted forms and concludes with both themes appearing simultaneously. The F-sharp minor ricercar uses the same concept and is slightly more interesting musically: the key of [[F-sharp minor]] requires a more flexible tuning than the standard [[meantone temperament]] of the [[Baroque]] era and was therefore rarely used by contemporary composers. This means that Pachelbel may have used his own tuning system, of which little is known. ''Ricercare in C major'' is mostly in three voices and employing the same kind of writing with consecutive thirds as seen in Pachelbel's toccatas (see below).

Pachelbel's use of repercussion subjects and extensive repeated note passages may be regarded as another characteristic feature of his organ pieces. Extreme examples of note repetition in the subject are found in magnificat fugues: quarti toni No. 4 has eight repeated notes, octavi toni No. 6 has twelve.{{refn|The most extraordinary example of note repetition, however, is not found in Pachelbel's fugues but in his first setting of the ''Vom Himmel hoch'' chorale, where a string of 30 repeated 16th-notes occurs in bars 15 and 16|group=n}} Also, even a fugue with an ordinary subject can rely on strings of repeated notes, as it happens, for example, in magnificat fugue octavi toni No. 12:

[[File:Pachelbel-mfugue-8-12.png|center|thumb|700px|Excerpt from ''Magnificat Fugue octavi toni No. 12'' (bars 15–18). Fugue subject that appears once in this excerpt is highlighted.]]
{{listen|type=music|filename=Pachelbel C major fugue.ogg|title=Fugue in C major for organ|description=One of Pachelbel's many C major fugues on original themes, this short piece uses a subject with a pattern of repeated notes in a manner discussed above.}}

====Chaconnes and variations====
Pachelbel's apparent affinity for [[Variation (music)|variation form]] is evident from his organ works that explore the genre: [[chaconne]]s, chorale variations and several sets of arias with variations. The six chaconnes, together with Buxtehude's [[ostinato]] organ works, represent a shift from the older chaconne style: they completely abandon the dance idiom, introduce contrapuntal density, employ miscellaneous chorale improvisation techniques, and, most importantly, give the bass line much thematic significance for the development of the piece. Pachelbel's chaconnes are distinctly [[German organ schools|south German]] in style; the [[duple meter]] C major chaconne (possibly an early work) is reminiscent of Kerll's D minor passacaglia. The remaining five works are all in triple meter and display a wide variety of moods and techniques, concentrating on melodic content (as opposed to the emphasis on harmonic complexity and virtuosity in Buxtehude's chaconnes). The [[ostinato]] bass is not necessarily repeated unaltered throughout the piece and is sometimes subjected to minor alterations and ornamentation. The D major, [[Chaconne in D minor (Pachelbel)|D minor]] and [[Chaconne in F minor (Pachelbel)|F minor]] chaconnes are among Pachelbel's best-known organ pieces, and the latter is often cited as his best organ work.

{{listen|type=music
 | filename     = Johann Pachelbel Ciacona in f-Moll.ogg
 | title        = ''Chaconne in F minor'' for organ
 | description  = Performed on a church organ in Trubschachen, Switzerland by Burghard Fischer
 | filename2    = Pachelbel_ciacona_fminor.Ogg
 | title2       = ''Chaconne in F minor'' for organ
 | description2 = Played by Tibor Pinter on the sample set of the Marcussen organ, Moerdijk, Netherlands.
 | filename3    = Pachelbel_ciacona_d.Ogg
 | title3       = ''Chaconne in D minor'' for organ
 | description3 = Played by Tibor Pinter on the sample set of Gottfried Silbermann's organ (1722) in Roetha, Germany
}}

[[File:Pachelbel-hexachordum-prima-var4.jpg|left|thumb|A page from the original printed edition of ''[[Hexachordum Apollinis]]'', showing the fourth variation of the first aria]]

In 1699 Pachelbel published ''[[Hexachordum Apollinis]]'' (the title is a reference to [[Apollo]]'s [[lyre]]), a collection of six variations set in different [[Key (music)|keys]]. It is dedicated to composers [[Ferdinand Tobias Richter]] (a friend from the Vienna years) and [[Dieterich Buxtehude]]. Each set follows the "aria and variations" model, arias numbered ''Aria prima'' through ''Aria sexta'' ("first" through "sixth"). The final piece, which is also the best-known today, is subtitled ''Aria Sebaldina'', a reference to [[St. Sebaldus Church]] where Pachelbel worked at the time. Most of the variations are in common time, with Aria Sebaldina and its variations being the only notable exceptions; they are in 3/4 time. The pieces explore a wide range of variation techniques.

{{listen|type=music
 | filename     = Pachelbel_aria_quinta.Ogg
 | title        = ''Aria Quinta'' for organ
 | description  = The fifth aria from ''Hexachordum Apollinis'' (1699) played by Tibor Pinter on the sample set of the organ in Smecno, Czech Republic, built ca. 1587
 | filename2    = Pachelbel_aria_sexta_sebaldina.Ogg
 | title2       = ''Aria Sexta'' for organ
 | description2 = The sixth aria (Aria Sebaldina) from ''Hexachordum Apollinis'' (1699) played by Tibor Pinter on the sample set of the organ in Zlata Koruna, Czech Republic, built 1699
}}

Pachelbel's other variation sets include a few arias and an arietta (a short aria) with variations and a few pieces designated as chorale variations. Four works of the latter type were published in Erfurt in 1683 under the title ''[[Musicalische Sterbens-Gedancken]]'' ("Musical Thoughts on Death"), which might refer to the death of Pachelbel's first wife that occurred in the same year. This was Pachelbel's first published work and it is now partially lost. These pieces, along with [[Georg Böhm]]'s works, may or may not have influenced Johann Sebastian Bach's early organ [[partita]]s.

====Toccatas====
About 20 [[toccata]]s by Pachelbel survive, including several brief pieces referred to as ''toccatinas'' in the Perreault catalogue. They are characterized by consistent use of [[pedal point]]: for the most part, Pachelbel's toccatas consist of relatively fast passagework in both hands over sustained pedal notes. Although a similar technique is employed in toccatas by [[Johann Jakob Froberger|Froberger]] and [[Girolamo Frescobaldi|Frescobaldi]]'s pedal toccatas, Pachelbel distinguishes himself from these composers by having no sections with imitative counterpoint–in fact, unlike most toccatas from the early and middle Baroque periods, Pachelbel's contributions to the genre are not sectional, unless [[rhapsody (music)|rhapsodic]] introductory passages in a few pieces (most notably the E minor toccata) are counted as separate sections. Furthermore, no other Baroque composer used pedal point with such consistency in toccatas.

Many of Pachelbel's toccatas explore a single melodic [[motif (music)|motif]], and later works are written in a simple style in which two voices interact over sustained pedal notes, and said interaction&nbsp;– already much simpler than the virtuosic passages in earlier works&nbsp;– sometimes resorts to consecutive thirds, sixths or tenths. Compare the earlier D major toccata, with passages in the typical middle Baroque style, with one of the late C major toccatas:
{{-}}
[[File:Pachelbel-toccata-dmaj-passagework.png|center|thumb|800px|Excerpt from ''Toccata in D major'' (bars 10–14). {{Audio|Pachelbel D major toccata excerpt.ogg|Listen}}]]
[[File:Pachelbel-toccata-cmaj-thirds.png|center|thumb|800px|Opening bars of ''Toccata in C major''. Two-voice motivic interplay, based on the melody introduced in the first bar, is reduced to consecutive thirds in the last two bars. The piece continues in a similar manner, with basic motivic interaction in two voices and occasional consecutive thirds or sixths. {{Audio|Pachelbel C major toccata excerpt.ogg|Listen}}]]

{{listen|type=music
 | filename     = Johann Pachelbel Toccata e-Moll.ogg
 | title        = Toccata in E minor
 | description  =
 | filename2    = Johann Pachelbel Toccata F-Dur.ogg
 | title2       = Toccata in F major
 | description2 = Both performed on a church organ in Trubschachen, Switzerland, by Burghard Fischer
}}
Sometimes a bar or two of consecutive thirds embellish the otherwise more complex toccata-occasionally there is a whole section written in that manner; and a few toccatas (particularly one of the D minor and one of the G minor pieces) are composed using only this technique, with almost no variation. Partly due to their simplicity, the toccatas are very accessible works; however, the E minor and C minor ones which receive more attention than the rest are in fact slightly more complex.

====Fantasias====
Pachelbel composed six [[Fantasia (music)|fantasias]]. Three of them (the A minor, C major and one of the two D [[Dorian mode|Dorian]] pieces) are sectional compositions in 3/2 [[Time signature|time]]; the sections are never connected thematically; the other D Dorian piece's structure is reminiscent of Pachelbel's magnificat fugues, with the main theme accompanied by two simple [[countersubject]]s.

The E-flat major and G minor fantasias are variations on the Italian ''toccata di durezze e ligature'' genre. Both are gentle free-flowing pieces featuring intricate passages in both hands with many [[Accidental (music)|accidentals]], close to similar pieces by [[Girolamo Frescobaldi]] or [[Giovanni de Macque]].

====Preludes====
Almost all pieces designated as [[Prelude (music)|preludes]] resemble Pachelbel's toccatas closely, since they too feature virtuosic passagework in one or both hands over sustained notes. However, most of the preludes are much shorter than the toccatas: the A minor prelude (pictured below) only has 9 bars, the G major piece has 10. The only exception is one of the two D minor pieces, which is very similar to Pachelbel's late simplistic toccatas, and considerably longer than any other prelude. The toccata idiom is completely absent, however, in the short Prelude in A minor:
{|
|[[File:Pachelbel-prelude-amin.png|center|thumb|650px|Prelude in A minor (full score)]]||{{Listen|type=music|filename=Pachelbel A minor prelude.ogg|title=Prelude in A minor}}
|}
A texture of similar density is also found in the ending of the shorter D minor piece, where three voices engage in imitative counterpoint. In pairs of preludes and fugues Pachelbel aimed to separate homophonic, improvisatory texture of the prelude from the strict counterpoint of the fugue.

====Other keyboard music====
Around 20 dance [[suite (music)|suite]]s transmitted in a 1683 manuscript (now destroyed) were previously attributed to Pachelbel, but today his authorship is questioned for all but three suites, numbers 29, 32 and 33B in the Seiffert edition.{{sfn|Apel|1972|p=660}}{{refn|For a discussion of the suites' authorship, see Perreault's "An Essay on the Authorities" (in {{harvnb|Perreault|2004|pp=252–253}}).|group=n}} The pieces are clearly not without French influence (but not so much as Buxtehude's) and are comparable in terms of style and technique to Froberger's suites. Seventeen [[Key (music)|keys]] are used, including [[F-sharp minor]]. Number 29 has all four traditional movements, the other two authentic pieces only have three (no [[gigue]]), and the rest follow the classical model ([[Allemande]], [[Courante]], [[Sarabande]], Gigue), sometimes updated with an extra movement (usually less developed{{sfn|Nolte|2001}}), a more modern dance such as a [[gavotte]] or a ballet. All movements are in [[binary form]], except for two [[aria]]s.

===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}}

===Vocal music===
[[Johann Gottfried Walther]] famously described Pachelbel's vocal works as "more perfectly executed than anything before them".<ref>Translation from: [[Peter Wollny]], liner notes to CD "Pachelbel; Johann Christoph & Johann Michael Bach: Motetten/Motets", DHM 77305</ref> Already the earliest examples of Pachelbel's vocal writing, two arias "So ist denn dies der Tag" and "So ist denn nur die Treu" composed in Erfurt in 1679 (which are also Pachelbel's earliest datable pieces,<ref>Kathryn Jane Welter, "So ist denn dies der Tag: The [[Homage (feudal)|Erbhuldigung]] of Prince Elector Carl Heinrich of Mainz" (lecture at the Eighth Annual Meeting of The Society for Seventeenth-Century Music, 27–30 April 2000) [http://www.music.qub.ac.uk/tomita/baroque/abstracts/Welter.htm abstract)]{{Dead link|date=January 2025 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref>) display impressive mastery of large-scale composition ("So ist denn dies der Tag" is scored for [[soprano]], [[SATB]] choir, 2 violins, 3 violas, 4 trumpets, [[timpani]] and [[basso continuo]]) and exceptional knowledge of contemporary techniques.

These latter features are also found in Pachelbel's [[Vespers]] pieces and sacred concertos, large-scale compositions which are probably his most important vocal works. Almost all of them adopt the modern [[concertato]] idiom and many are scored for unusually large groups of instruments (''Jauchzet dem Herrn, alle Welt (in C)'' uses four trumpets, [[timpani]], 2 violins, 3 violas, [[violone]] and [[basso continuo]]; ''Lobet den Herrn in seinem Heiligtum'' is scored for a five-part chorus, two flutes, bassoon, five trumpets, trombone, drums, [[cymbal]]s, [[harp]], two violins, basso continuo and organ). Pachelbel explores a very wide range of styles: psalm settings (''Gott ist unser Zuversicht''), chorale concertos (''Christ lag in Todesbanden''), sets of chorale variations (''Was Gott tut, das ist wohlgetan''), concerted [[motet]]s, etc. The ensembles for which these works are scored are equally diverse: from the famous D major Magnificat setting written for a 4-part choir, 4 violas and basso continuo, to the ''Magnificat in C major'' scored for a five-part chorus, 4 trumpets, timpani, 2 violins, a single viola and two [[viola da gamba|violas da gamba]], bassoon, basso continuo and organ.

Pachelbel's large-scale vocal works are mostly written in modern style influenced by Italian Catholic music, with only a few non-concerted pieces and old [[plainchant]] [[cantus firmus]] techniques employed very infrequently. The string ensemble is typical for the time, three viols and two violins. The former are either used to provide harmonic content in instrumental sections or to double the vocal lines in tutti sections; the violins either engage in contrapuntal textures of varying density or are employed for ornamentation. Distinct features of Pachelbel's vocal writing in these pieces, aside from the fact that it is almost always very strongly tonal, include frequent use of permutation fugues and writing for paired voices. The Magnificat settings, most composed during Pachelbel's late Nuremberg years, are influenced by the Italian-Viennese style and distinguish themselves from their antecedents by treating the canticle in a variety of ways and stepping away from text-dependent composition.

Other vocal music includes [[motet]]s, arias and two [[Mass (music)|masses]]. Of the eleven extant motets, ten are scored for two four-part [[choir|choruses]]. Most of this music is harmonically simple and makes little use of complex [[polyphony]] (indeed, the polyphonic passages frequently feature reduction of parts). The texts are taken from the [[psalms]], except in ''Nun danket alle Gott'' which uses a short passage from ''[[Ecclesiastes]]''. The motets are structured according to the text they use. One important feature found in ''Gott ist unser Zuversicht'' and ''Nun danket alle Gott'' is that their endings are four-part chorale settings reminiscent of Pachelbel's organ chorale model: the chorale, presented in long [[note value]]s, is sung by the sopranos, while the six lower parts accompany with passages in shorter note values:

[[File:Pachelbel-motet-ps46-part.png|center|thumb|675px|Excerpt from the ending of motet ''Gott ist unser Zuversicht'' (bars 92–95). These are the first choir's parts, the notes and lines for the second choir are the same.]]

The arias, aside from the two 1679 works discussed above, are usually scored for solo voice accompanied by several instruments; most were written for occasions such as weddings, birthdays, funerals and baptisms. They include both simple strophic and complex sectional pieces of varying degrees of complexity, some include sections for the chorus. The concerted Mass in C major is probably an early work; the D major [[Missa brevis]] is a small mass for an SATB choir in three movements (Kyrie, Gloria, Credo). It is simple, unadorned and reminiscent of his motets.