Pachelbel: Canon & Gigue (卡農與吉格) + Chamber Works (London Baroque)

直接將話說在前頭，帕海貝爾(Pachelbel)(1653-1706)寫的曲子，不只有那一首世界超級名曲「D大調卡農」！！！而且這首卡農是二十世紀之後才爆紅的曲子，不然中間兩百多年，它一直是個不起眼的小曲子。今天市面上可以看到不同的卡農改編版本不計其數。而「我的野蠻女友」一片在亞洲造成轟動的時候，那首卡農頓時間又成了熱門搶手的音樂。連不會彈鋼琴的高中同學還跑來問我說他有辦法彈嗎～～～


Johann Pachelbel出生於紐倫堡(二戰後著名的「紐倫堡大審」)，同漢堡為神聖羅馬帝國中的一座自由城市。他早期的音樂訓練在當地的紐倫堡以及鄰近的Altdorf和Regensburg。他於1673，離開德國，到了維也納，擔任St. Stephen教堂的風琴師，相傳和當時有名的鍵盤大師Johann Kaspar Kerll學習。(雖然沒有直接證據證明這件事，不過Pachelbel受Kerll音樂風格的影響是很明顯的)。在Hapsburg王朝統治的維也納，Pachelbel還大量接觸和吸收了當時在那兒極受歡迎的義大利曲風。

之後，Pachelbel又擔任了Eisenach的宮廷風琴師與Erfurt的Predigerkirche(「傳教士教堂」)風琴師。這段期間，他結識了巴哈家族中成員，與他們變成了非常要好的朋友。他在J.S. 巴哈之父 Ambrosius的請求下，成為J.S. 巴哈姊姊的乾爹，也同時是J.S. 巴哈長兄Johann Christoph 巴哈的老師。Johann Christoph巴哈除了是年幼巴哈的老師，小時念到的故事中，J.S. 巴哈便是偷抄其收藏的寶貝樂譜被抓到後，為兄大怒將那些手抄譜全部沒收起來。Pachelbel在風琴上寫的許多賦格，變奏曲，和聖歌，都大大影響巴哈日後音樂風格和創作。如要真的算起來，Pachelbel可說是巴哈的師公。

1695，紐倫堡的St. Sebaldus教堂風琴師過逝。他們要找替補的風琴師時，都相中已經頗負盛名的同鄉人Pachelbel。當時在Gotha擔任風琴師的Pachelbel，接到要請通知時，二話不說就答應返鄉了。他在St. Sebaldus的職位，會一直做到他過逝。

Pachelbel是一位優秀的鍵盤家，因此他的大部份創作都是風琴音樂。不愛聽管風琴音樂的人(本人也是其中一位)，Pachelbel和另一位影響巴哈深遠的鍵盤作曲家Buxtehude一樣，也寫了不少其他室內樂作品。很可惜，許多曲子今天已經遺失了。這張CD收錄了Pachelbel流傳至今得以保存的大部份室內樂曲，包括一套六首組曲Musicalische Ergötzung ( 音樂樂趣)，另外三首組曲，以及那有名的「D大調卡農與吉格」。

Pachelbel的室內樂曲的難度，不像Biber或是Buxtehude的Stylus Fantasticus(奇異風格)那麼困難。這些標題為「音樂樂趣」的組曲，很有可能是針對一些業餘的音樂家，供家中音樂會或是當作餐桌音樂享用。組曲開頭都是一個單一sonata樂章，緊接著是一連串的舞曲樂章，義式，德式，法式不一，相當自由。 常常Sonata樂章的主題，會在後面的樂章中得到呼應，因此整個組曲演奏下來，有一氣呵成的整體性。而Musicalische Ergötzung的編制為雙小提琴與數字低音，二小提琴奏出的音樂來回穿梭，正是編織出了賞心悅「耳」，極具有樂趣的小品音樂。第四首和第五首組曲都以Chaconne做為結尾，第四首的是E小調，像是在述說人生的無奈，而第五首的C大調，陽光又正面。在下面將第四首和第五首組曲上傳至youtube。而個人非常喜歡第五首的Chaconne，覺得動聽程度不亞於卡農，也有單獨上傳。

不過既然Pachelbel的成名曲是這首「卡農」，也不得不在這兒花點時間講一下。「卡農」不是曲名，而是一種曲式，是最簡單的對位手法。說穿了，就是輪留接著唱，像是小學時音樂老師會將一個班分成好幾部來唱「兩隻老虎」，不過一部與一部間會慢個幾個音。產生出一種奇妙又不難聽的效果。Pachelbel的卡農，便是利用這種基本的手法，不過他還結合了數字低音，並在上面進行旋律的變奏。因此，嚴格上來說，這首卡農是結合了「頑固低音上的變奏」(Variations on a Ground Bass) 和「卡農」的兩種創作手法。不過，Pachelbel厲害的地方，便是將二者做天衣無縫的接軌，在簡單的卡農形式上，可以製造出非常飽滿的合聲效果。在一般人的耳中，不大容易聽得出來是三聲部卡農，只聽會聽到漂亮的旋律，可以說是Pachelbel功力最好的見證。

最原始的版本中，這首卡農是寫給三把小提琴和數字低音，但經過暴紅中已有無數個版本。不過像改編給鋼琴的版本，已經不是真的卡農形式，而只是擷取其主旋律了。London Baroque室內樂團所演奏的，當然是原稿的版本了。古樂器的版本，採取的速度比較輕快，有活力，而不是像一般婚禮會表演那種隆重感。古樂版的卡農，通常都比現代絃樂版快到差不多有兩倍。因此，要用這些版本當做婚禮進行音樂，那新郎新娘可能要有心理準備用競走的方式入場吧～～～
 
說真的，當初有一段時間，因為這首曲子太大眾，使我是很不願意聽它。不過後來有機會買到兩個古樂版的卡農，讓我以一個全新的方式認識並欣賞這首曲子。今天我偶爾放這首曲子的時候，和世上大多數聆聽這首曲子的人的心情是大不相同的。(我會超級極力反對在自己婚禮上播放這首曲子。)  D大調的卡農與吉格，也上傳至下面youtube的連結。

London Baroque，猜也知，是英國的室內樂團，主要成員有四人，分別兩位拉小提琴，一位拉大提琴，還有一位彈大鍵琴。他們錄的音樂主要以三重奏鳴曲為主，分別錄了Handel，Bach，及Corelli較有名的作曲家的三重奏鳴曲以外，還有推廣英國自己的Purcell及Lawes的奏鳴曲，以及Leclair，Marais，和Pachelbel等比較不為人知的曲子。他們的表演一向非常乾淨利落，小提琴聲音清亮，樂句表現也蠻有音樂性的。不過很奇怪地，他們的素質和熟練度那樣高，有時我卻先聽到的是樂團自己的特色，而不是音樂風格本身。如果不提這個的話，那London Baroque其實沒有什麼東西是可以挑的。有興趣想更認識Pachelbel其他的音樂的話，這張專輯可是不可多得的好選擇。

Johann Pachelbel (1653-1706) has cemented his eternal fame in classical music by the rediscovery of his Canon in D, which has been arranged and rearranged countless times for different instruments.  Its rise to fame in just the 20th century is something of an interesting phenomenon, considering it was merely a minor piece tucked away in some collection some 200 years between his death and its republishing.  In fact, the piece has been so popular that I started to develop a little aversion towards it in my college days.  Luckly, two period performance recordings of the piece I bought (both on Harmonia Mundi) have re-introduced me to this piece with a renewed sense of appreciation.

Pachelbel was born in Nuremburg, where he received his first local music education and stayed in the neighboring cities for his higher music education.  In 1673, he traveled to Vienna, taking up a job as the deputy organist of St. Stephen's Cathedral.  Here, he was greatly influenced by Johann Kaspar Kerll's keyboard works.  It is speculated that he might have studied directly under him, but there is no direct evidence.   It was also in Vienna that he was immersed with the Italian style of music that the musical taste favored at the time.

Afterwards, he would serve as the Eisenach court organist and Erfurt's Predigerkirche organist.  By this time, he had established himself as a renowned keyboardist and composer.  It was also during this period that he befriended the Bach family.  He became the godfather to Johanna Juditha Bach, J.S. Bach's older sister, and he was also teacher to Johann Christoph Bach, J.S. Bach's eldest brother.  Since Johann Christoph would be J.S. Bach's early instructor, there is nothing wrong in saying that there was a lineage passed on to Bach from Pachelbel.  In fact, Bach greatly admired and studied Pachelbel's keyboard works in great detail.

In 1695, Nuremburg's St. Sebaldus Cathedral's organist passed away, and the people were eager to ask Pachelbel, an established native of Nuremburg, to fill the position.  Pachelbel held a post in Gotha at the time, but upon receiving the application, decided to move back to his hometown, where he would hold the post until his death.

Although Pachelbel was primarily known for being an organ and keyboard composer, he was reputed to be a prolific composer in his own right by writing for chamber and vocal ensembles.  However, many of his chamber instrumental output has now been lost, and what remains is only a small slice of his compositions.  Of the chamber music that survives, his set of 6 Partie, or Musicalische Ergötzung (Musical Delight) is the most complete set of music.  Other pieces include other Partie and of course, the Canon and Gigue in D. 

Theses Partie, or suites, all start with a single-movement sonata, followed by various dance forms, either Italian or French in nature.  The chamber music of Pachelbel are considerably less difficult than those written by Biber or Buxtehude, who embrace the Stylus Fantasticus virtuosic writing.  These pieces written by Pachelbel were supposedly intended for amateur musicians for house concerts.  Not only are the pieces manageable, the contrapuntal interplay of the melodic lines provide a rich texture and charm that he is characteristically known for in his Canon in D.  Of the 6 suites, the ones that have captured my attention have been none other than the 4th and 5th suite.  In particular, the 5th suite ends with a chaconne that is equally enchanting as the more famous Canon.   

London Baroque has been one of the top British Baroque ensembles for decades.  They have made some very high quality trio sonata recordings of Corelli, Leclair, Vivaldi, Handel, Bach, Purcell, and Marais.  London Baroque's playing is clean and precise, and their musical phrasing is placed nicely by not overdoing anything.  For some reason, I notice London Baroque style of playing more so than I do about the music itself.  This oddity might have something to do with London Baroque's fine yet workmanlike approach to music making.  This is no fault in any regards, as London Baroque's playing is always at a very high standard, and I am always very satisfied by the overall sound that they produce.  They embody a refined and cohesive Baroque chamber sound, intimate yet lively.  For those who are curious about Pachelbel's other chamber pieces and would like to explore further, this disc is sure to delight.  The period performance of Canon in D is not the lush and grand string version you hear one too many times at weddings.  Played at almost twice as fast as the modern version, this is no wedding precession, but expect some racewalking.