A Pachelbel Mystery: The Case of the Curious Fugue

This is a true musical oddity! I stumbled upon this piece in an old book, sandwiched between two other short fugues by Pachelbel. At first glance, it seemed innocent enough, finishing neatly in C major. But something felt… off. My musical instincts whispered, “This should end in G major.” Cue my detective work. After much sleuthing (and possibly some muttering at the organ bench), I discovered that this piece is the Magnificat Fugue P.297 from Pachelbel’s collection Magnificat tertii toni (G Mixolydian). Or at least… part of it.

Here’s where it gets weird: the first 22 bars are identical to other manuscripts. But in those, there are 9 extra bars that beautifully resolve in G major. In my version? Just 3 extra bars, casually wrapping things up in C major. Suspicious, right? Pay extra attention to bar 23. What is happening there! So, what’s going on here? Are there two versions of this fugue floating around? Did the editor of my book run out of space (or patience) and decide to whip up their own ending? Or is this a musical cliffhanger, left by Pachelbel himself to keep us guessing?

Either way, it’s a delightful little puzzle. A Pachel Mystery! 🕵️‍♂️🎶

Played with the organ from the Martinikerk in Groningen, the Netherlands (Hauptwerk)

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