Johann Pachelbel: Canon in D Major
Arthur Fiedler's Sinfonietta
Recorded March 21, 1940, in Symphony Hall, Boston, Mass., on RCA Victor 78-rpm matrix BS-047138. Issued in June, 1944, as Side 4 of Victor Musical Masterpiece set M-969 (records 10-1094 and 10-1095), forming the filler for Esajas Reusner's Suite No. 1 (arranged by J. G. Stanley), which has been uploaded separately.
This is the second-ever recording (and the first in the USA) of Pachelbel's Canon, which at that time was an almost completely unknown piece. This is one of those instances in which the filler for an album set is likely to be of more interest for most people than the \"main course.\" Fiedler's performance is much speedier than we are accustomed to hearing today - much to the piece's benefit, in my opinion.
On the same day as this recording, Fiedler's Sinfonietta committed Telemann's \"Don Quichotte\" Suite to disc, a performance I have uploaded elsewhere. On that recording the harpsichord continuo playing is credited to Erwin Bodky. The harpsichorist in the present set is uncredited but it can probably be safely assumed that Mr. Bodky did the honors.
