Pachelbel’s Canon in D is probably my favorite classical piece, I’ve listened to a lot of versions but the ones below are my favorite. They’re all fairly different from each other so I enjoy the mix of styles and instruments. Can anyone suggest other good versions of this masterpiece?
I don’t have a favorite “normal” version of this by an orchestra because they all kind of sound the same. I’ve looked for one but haven’t really loved any of the arrangements
On the principle that we tend to favor the first version we hear – the version on “Go For Baroque” is my favorite. (n.b. not the Canadian Brass album of that name, but the old RCA VICS-1687 lp.) This is out of print but not too hard to find.
This Christopher Hogwood offering is in the “original instruments” tradition: softer, perhaps subtler, than modern orchestration. The “original instruments” movement is (strangely!) controversial: some people adore it, others consider it ghastly. I am a completist, and like to get both versions of things, to compare. Each approach has strengths and weaknesses. You’ll have to make up your own mind. Properly warned ye be sez I!
All of these are findable; they tend to pop up on Ebay, if nothing else. (I just looked, and there is an offering of “Go For Baroque” for $4.99…er, plus a gobload of shipping, of course.)
I do love the alternative (sometimes silly) versions too, such as a version for percussion only, or the Canadian Brass version for brass instruments. The nice thing about the brass version is that it helps your ear separate out the musical threads. I never properly comprehended Bach’s (most famous) Tocatta and Fugue (hey, the opening of Rollerball) until I heard the Canadian Brass version, which surgically dissects the lines, which, when played on the organ, tend to sort of blur together. All is now clear!
As **Trinopus **said, the first version we hear makes the most impact. For me, and I’m sure a lot of Canadians, it was the version that Bob Kerr played on the CBC radio show “Off The Record”.
He closed the show wishing us a “A fond good afternoon” while The Canon was playing in the background. The version he used was the totally inauthentic one with full string orchestra and pizzicato parts by the “Jean-Francois Paillard Chamber Orchestra”. Majestic and so impressive.
I’m quite fond of Thanks to Gravity’s version. (can’t find anywhere to link to the version on the Slingshot album. The live version on youtube isn’t as good.)
I’m a Nikon guy myself, so probably not the best to answer this question, but as far as I can tell, the EOS-1D X appears to be their top-of-the-line model, and therefore, is likely to be their best version.
