The Canon in D major (full German title: Kanon und Gigue in D-Dur für drei Violinen und Basso Continuo or Canon and Gigue in D major for three Violins with Bass Accompaniment) is the most famous piece of music by Johann Pachelbel. It was written in or around 1680, during the Baroque period, as a piece of chamber music for three violins and basso continuo, but has since been arranged for a wide variety of ensembles. The Canon was originally paired with a gigue in the same key, although this composition is rarely performed or recorded today. It is well known for its chord progression which has become one of the most used in popular music.

The piece is commonly played at weddings and is frequently present on miscellaneous classical music compilation CDs, along with other famous Baroque pieces such as Air on the G String by J. S. Bach, (BWV 1068), and Albinoni‘s Adagio in G minor. A non-original viola pizzicato part is also commonly added (in a string orchestra or quartet setting) when a harpsichord player is not used to improvise harmonies over the bass line.

Pachelbel‘s canon in popular culture

The Pachelbel canon may represent the most extraordinary instance of the crossover phenomenon in all of music. During a short period in the early 1970s it went from being a quite obscure work of early music to a universally familiar cultural item^{[citation needed]}. It was played in countless versions in its original notes and instrumentation, as well as in arrangements for other instruments and in adaptations into other musical genres. The process shows no sign of abating.

• The canon was first adapted musically in a pop song by the Spanish vocal group Pop Tops on their 1968 hit “O Lord, Why Lord?”, which made modest chart showings in both the USA (peaking at #79 on the Hot 100) and the Netherlands. Later that year it was adapted by the Greek band Aphrodite‘s Child on their hit Rain and Tears. In more recent times, Australian-British string quartet bond played a modified, more updated version of the Pachelbel Canon in their song Lullaby on their 2004 album Classified.

• The soundtrack of the film The Enigma of Kaspar Hauser by Werner Herzog features the Canon; it was also used in the film‘s trailer.

• The second half of Brian Eno‘s pioneering 1975 ambient music recording Discreet Music consists of a series of versions of Pachelbel‘s canon to which various algorithmic transformations have been applied, rendering it almost unrecognisable. The chord progression of the canon also surfaces in Eno‘s 1983 Apollo: Atmospheres and Soundtracks recording on the track Always Returning. In 1991, RCA released a compilation CD called Pachelbel‘s Greatest Hit. It contained eight different versions of the piece, including performances by James Galway, Isao Tomita, and the Canadian Brass. Also released that year was the P. D. Q. Bach album WTWP Classical Talkity-Talk Radio, a spoof of classical radio and the canon‘s ubiquity there (WTWP stands for “wall-to-wall Pachelbel”).

• Mark Knopfler, known to have gone through a classical musical training, seems to have been inspired by the harmonies in Dire Straits‘ “Tunnel of Love” (1980).

• Used as the main theme in the Academy Award winning 1980 film Ordinary People.

• In 1984, Japanese singer/actress Togawa Jun‘s song “Mushi no Onna” was adapted from Canon in D with lyrics.

• Also in 1984, the movie Electric Dreams featured a duet between a Cello player and Edgar the sentient computer. However, this was easily identifiable as Minuet #4 in G, not by Pachelbel at all.

• It appears in the popular anime movie Evangelion: Death and Rebirth. Initially it is played by certain key characters while performing as a string quartet. Later it is used as the Closing Theme.

• In 1998, French film director Gaspar Noé used the Canon in his film Seul contre tous.

• Third wave ska-punk band Catch 22 adapted the Canon to use in the bridge of their song “On & On & On” on their 1998 debut, Keasbey Nights.

• In 2000, The song was featured as part of the opening tune for Arthur‘s Perfect Christmas.

• The song plays a prominent role in the 2002 Korean comedy “My Sassy Girl.” (The song is actually a variation composed by George Winston).

• Snapcase, a former metalcore band from Buffalo, New York adapted the melody and chord progression of the Canon for the song “ID/Hindsight” off of their 2002 album End Transmission.

• Banya released a rock version of Canon titled Canon-D (Part of the Memories #1) for the game Pump It Up Exceed 2. The music in the game is accompanied by an anime-style music video background, the song ended up being one of the hardest to play but most loved songs in the game‘s series

• In 2005, a video of a young Taiwanese guitarist calling himself JerryC, short for Jerry Chang – who arranged and performed an energetic rock version of Pachelbel‘s Canon on electric guitar. Over 50 guitarists have published “Canon Rock” videos; Korean guitarist funtwo‘s video is one of the most watched Youtube clips of all time.

• Another Korean adaptation is a commercial in 2006 with “Bboy Zero-Nine” (Shin Young Suk) dancing to the tune of Canon in D. Using a traditional Korean Instrument, Gaya Geum, It was remixed with added Beat-Box and Scratch to add a little “Hip-Hop” taste in it. The music was remade by “Lee Changyui.”

• A slightly modified version of the canon is played on three alto saxes and one baritone sax annually in the Plymouth Canton Marching Band.

• The song is present in the animated version of the manga Ichigo 100%.

• Rick Wakeman of Yes performs a baroque rendition of the song on his Wakeman 2000 DVD.

• A revised version of this song can be found in the Canon Groove, a popular song for the online game Audition Online.

• Canon in D is featured on the 2006 album, Piano Love Songs, by pianist Bradley Joseph.

• In the 2006 animated version of the anime series Kanon Canon in D is played in the café Yuuichi and his friends visit. In a later episode, Sayuri mentions the piece, “When the same melody plays repeatedly, little by little it‘d turn into a rich and beautiful music. Just like this, even if a person lives a seemingly unchanging life, little by little things will change.”

• Played in the movie during a hallway scene in Step Up.

• The Future Sound of London has song titled “Domain” on their fourth album; Lifeforms, which contains the melody from Canon in D.

• Mixed Company, an a cappella group from Yale University, arranged a version of the Canon in D entitled “Taco Bell Canon.” Its text praises multiple fast food chains, as well as tequila, beer, and margaritas.

• The american rapper Coolio included Pachebel’s Canon in the song “See you When you Get There” from his “My Soul” CD (1997).

Other uses

• Football fans in Europe, especially in the Netherlands, are known to use the basic melody to chant in stadiums. One popular Dutch text is “‘t is stil aan de overkant” (“it‘s quiet on the other side”), which they repeat over and over again and which can also sometimes be heard at other sporting events that take place in stadiums, such as ice skating.
• At least one big-city National Public Radio station, during the time of the Taco Bell TV ads involving a “talking” Chihuahua dog, posted a billboard reading, “Yo quiero Pachelbel!“.
• The Magyspy theme in the Gameboy Advance Game Mother 3 is a remix of Canon in D.
• The popular videogame Gran Turismo 4 features Canon in D. as one of the tracks listenable during races.
• The strategic videogame Utopia (computer game) in Amiga version, also features Canon in D. as one of the tracks listenable during the gameplay.
• The World Cup 2006 Coca-Cola TV ads feature the melody from Canon D.
• The song has been used as the theme of a Korean film, The Classic（假如愛有天意 in Chinese), and a variation written for piano also appears in another popular Korean movie, My Sassy Girl, starring Jun Ji-Hyun. Both movies were directed by Kwak Jae-Yong.
• In the 2006 remake of the anime Kanon, the song was used in a café scene within several episodes, predominantly in episodes 1 and 14. In episode 14, the song itself is referred to by name within the episode, and a description of the song is given by the character Sayuri Kurata that can be read as an allegory for the show itself.
• In Super Smash Brothers for the Nintendo 64, Kirby‘s level features a slightly modified Canon in the bassline of the chorus section.
• In a scene at the mall from the Dragonball Z movie Super Android 13! (English Dub), Canon in D is used as background music.
• In Idoru by William Gibson at page 44, a software agent used to provide musical instruction to the story‘s protagonist introduces her to DESH ‘Diatonic Elaboration of Static Harmony‘. This is the common musical pattern of which Johann Pachelbel‘s Canon is the most famous and classic example.
• Canon in D is featured prominently as background music during the episode of Carl Sagan‘s Cosmos series entitled “The Persistence of Memory”.
• Chords from ‘Canon in D‘ are heard in the song “Don‘t Let It Be Love” by the band Bowling for Soup. In reaction to the notes from ‘Canon in D‘, the singer states “If I ever hear that song again I might just kill someone”.
• In The World According To Clarkson, Jeremy Clarkson claims the song is played in most places in Washington DC.
• Recorded live at Penn State, comedian and musician Rob Paravonian rants about how much it sucks to play Pachelbel‘s Canon in D on a cello.

Download the Piano Score here. 

Check this, guitar version(rock) at YouTube

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QjA5faZF1A8