Charles Theodore Pachelbel
Composer of Magnificat

I. W. C. C.
P. O. Box 8112
Moscow, ID  83843-0612

Baptized as Carl Theodorus Pachelbel on November 24, 1690, Charles Theodore Pachelbel was the younger son of the much more famous Johann Pachelbel, composer of the famous Canon in D Major. He adopted the new spelling of his name toward the end of his life after he had emigrated to America. At the time of his birth, the Pachelbels lived in Stuttgart, Germany, but left in 1692 because of the French invasion (as part of the expansionist efforts of Louise XIV). The family went to Nuremberg, where Johann Pachelbel served as organist of St. Sebaldus' Church until his death in 1706. The family was then headed by the older brother, Wilhelm Hieronymous Pachelbel, who succeeded his father in his post as organist of St. Sebaldus' Church.¹ (The organ in this church had been the world's oldest, dating from 1440, but was destroyed in the bombing during World War II.)

Charles Theodore, whose name in Germany was Carl Theodorus Pachelbel, later emigrated to the British colonies in America. Exactly when this occurred is not known, but he probably did so by way of Great Britain, as did many other Germans of his time. His father had some important English connections (he had been offered the post of organist at Oxford in 1692), and it is likely that these connections may have played a role (David).

It is known that by 1733 when he was in his early 40's, Charles Pachelbel was in Boston, from where he was called to Newport, Rhode Island, to assist in the installation of an organ (presented by philosopher George Berkeley and tested by Handel before it left England) at Trinity Church . He then became organist at Trinity Church until 1735 (David). Completed in 1726, Trinity Church still stands in a prominent place in Newport today, overlooking the harbor where the wealthy of America keep their yachts (see image on left).

The following year, in January and March of 1736, Pachelbel gave concerts in New York City. Pachelbel's Magnificat formed part of the program (also part of the Chorale's Chirstmas program in 2003). Although this was the piece's premiere, according to Hans T. David, the editor of the piece, it had probably been composed before Pachelbel left Germany. This concert is noteworthy as it is the first recorded public concert in New York City. (A British colony since 1664, the city had a population of about 5,000 by 1700.)

Pachelbel later settled in Charleston, South Carolina, where he married a widow in February 1737 by whom he apparently had a son two years later. In November 1737, he held a concert to celebrate St. Cecilia's Day, the first attempt to do so in South Carolina. He earned a modest living as organist of St. Philip's Church in Charleston (the building in which Pachelbel worked was built in 1724 and was destroyed in a fire in 1835; the current St. Philip's Church was constructed in 1835 to 1838, long after Pachelbel lived there).

In 1749, as he was nearing 60, Pachelbel published an announcement that he intended to form a singing school, but soon after he was (according to a contermporary source) "afflicted with a lameness in his hands and determined to leave the Province [of South Carolina]" (quoted in David's Preface). He died in September 1750. Among his possessions at his death, left to his widow, were a spinet piano, a clavichord, and (again, in the words of the contemporary source) two "Negro Wenches" and "Sundry books of Musick, paper,and Crow Quills" (quoted in David). Slavey was of course legal in South Carolina until 1865, and few voices were raised in objection to it especially before 1750, so it is not surprising, given when and where he was lving at the time of death, that Pachelbel was a slave owner (albeit on a rather small scale).

Charles Theodore Pachelbel was a contemporary of Johann Sebastian Bach's. His father had been godfather to Bach's older sister and was the teacher of his brother, Johann Christoph. It was Johann Christoph Bach who gave his younger brother Sebastian his first formal keyboard lessons. Bach and C. T. Pachelbel died the same year, 1750; Bach was five years older.

¹ Most of the information on this page is paraphrased from the Hans T. David's preface in the C.F. Peters edition of this music. You can read a somewhat more sprightly account of Charles Theodore's life by John Liehard of the University of Houston (orginally a radio address) by clicking here.

Sources:

• David, Hans T. Preface. Magnificat. New York: C.F. Peters Corp., 1959.
• "New York City." Encyclopædia Britannica. 2003. Encyclopædia Britannica Premium Service.
  09 Nov, 2003 <http://www.britannica.com/eb/article?eu=115646>.
• Pachelbel, Johann." Encyclopædia Britannica. 2003. Encyclopædia Britannica Premium Service. 09 Nov, 2003 <http://www.britannica.com/eb/article?eu=59359>.

Hans T. David refers his readers to the following accounts of Charles Theodore Pachelbel's life:

• Sonneck, Oscar. Early Concert-Life in America. 1907. Rpt. New York, 1949.
• Redway, Virginia Larkin. "A New York Concert in 1736." Musical Quarterly. April 1936.
• ----. "Charles Theodore Pachelbell, Musical Emigrant." Journal of the American Musicological Society. Spring 1952.

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