| Though known primarily as a composer of organ works, Johann Pachelbel (1653-1706) composed over 30 major choral pieces. One of these was a cantata setting of Martin Luther's seven-verse hymn, "Christ lag in Todesbanden." Pachelbel set Luther's text in seven movements, organized in a symmetrical design in which the first three verses are mirrored in the last three, with the fourth serving as a mirror. This same structure appears in J. S. Bach's (1685-1750) setting of the same text, Cantata No. 4. This similarity, the similar manner of composition employed by the composers, and the historical connection between Pachelbel and Bach (the elder was the teacher of the younger's teacher) strongly suggest that Bach was so impressed with Pachelbel's cantata that he used it as a model for his masterwork. |
