Pachelbel Canon: Cellist's Revenge
Pachelbel's Canon is one of the most requested songs for weddings. It is a strict canon of the unison for three parts with basso continuo. Unfortunately, cellists hate this piece because it has an incredibly boring cello part. All the other instruments get to play interesting melodies, but the cellist is stuck playing the same 8 notes forever. But in this arrangement, the cellist finally gets his revenge. A single solo cellist, with the help of a looping microphone, plays all 4 lines of the canon simultaneously. At the end, the cellist vamps through a whole series of popular tunes that follow the same chord progressions, and finally the original melody is symbolically buried beneath a furious repeat of the bass line. This does not use any pre-recording or post-mixing; everything can be performed live. No need for violins here: the cello does it all!
IMPORTANT: This arrangement requires the use of a microphone and a layered looper pedal. The musician plays certain measures into the looper and those measures repeat while the musician plays other lines. The musician layers multiple loops to build up 4 different parts, and erases certain lines partway through the performance. This arrangement was originally written for an acoustic cello and a freestanding microphone looper pedal; I have performed it with a TC Helicon Ditto Mic Looper Pedal and a Boss RC-30, but there are many other brands that should work. The looper must have the following functions:
- Rec: start recording a new layer.
- Play: stop recording, play all layers that are in memory, and continue looping.
- Erase: erase ("undo") the most recent layer, but keep everything else and continue looping.
- Stop: turn off the looper.
This composition can be played by 2 different combinations of instruments.
A few notes on the parts and instruments:
- The standard ("std") parts are the original parts and are designed to be played together.
- The alternate "a" parts, if present, are raised one octave (8va) and can be substituted for a standard part to accommodate the higher instruments listed. They should work as long as they are above the other parts.
- The alternate "b" parts, if present, are lowered one octave (8vb) and can be substituted for a standard part to accommodate the lower instruments listed. They should work as long as they are below the other parts.
- For example, using parts 1, 2, and 3 together is definitely ok. Using parts 1a, 2, and 3b together is probably ok. Using parts 1b, 2, and 3a together might not work well.
- Part ranges are listed in concert key, where C4 is middle C.
When you purchase this composition, you will be taken to PayPal to submit your payment. As soon as you pay, you will be able to download all the PDF files immediately. You will have access to every part for each available instrument, in the proper key and clef. You will also get a complete score (in most cases, we include four separate scores with all parts transposed to C, Bb, Eb, and F).
You don't have to purchase each part separately; one single payment covers all the parts you need for the instruments in your ensemble.
Version v01
Buy Version v01 ($4.99)This version was originally arranged for solo looping cello, but can also be played by looping viola.
Live recording available
Composition: Pachelbel Canon: Cellist's Revenge
Version: v01
Instrumentation: Solo
Duration: 3 minutes
Difficulty: Challenging
Price: $4.99
| Pachelbel Canon: Cellist's Revenge, Version v01 | ||
|---|---|---|
| Part | Range | Available Instruments |
| Score | Full Score in C, Bb, Eb, and F | |
| Part 1 (std) | D2 - C#5 | Cello |
| Part 1a (8va) | D3 - C#6 | Viola |