Johann Pachelbel

Timeline

1. c. 1653–1677Nuremberg · FranconiaBorn into a middle-class Nuremberg wine merchant family, he studied composition and keyboard with Schwemer, Wecker, and others. In 1669 he entered the University of Altdorf while serving as organist of St. Lorenz, then transferred to the humanist school in Regensburg, coming into contact with the Kerll circle's South German–Italian style. In 1677 he became court organist in Eisenach, forming ties with the Bach family.
2. 1678–1690Erfurt · ThuringiaFrom June 1678 he served as organist of the Protestant Predigerkirche; his contract required preludes on chorale themes and continuous accompaniment of congregational singing, spurring a flood of chorale preludes and fugues. He lodged in a Bach family household, served as godfather to a daughter of Johann Ambrosius, and taught Johann Christoph Bach, who would later become the eldest brother and early teacher of Johann Sebastian Bach.
3. 1690–1706St. Sebald's Church, Nuremberg · NurembergIn 1690 he moved to the Württemberg court at Stuttgart, and in 1692 became town organist of Gotha. After Wecker's death in 1695, the Nuremberg authorities exceptionally waived the examination and invited him to serve as organist of St. Sebald's, where he remained until his death. In 1699 he published keyboard collections including Apollo's Six Strings; the surviving Canon and Gigue in D is a representative text of South German chamber music.