Charles Theodore Pachelbel (November 24, 1690 – buried September 15, 1750) was a German composer, organist and harpsichordist of the late Baroque era. He was the son of the more famous Johann Pachelbel, composer of the popular Canon in D. He was one of the first European composers to take up residence in the American colonies, and was the most famous musical figure in early Charleston, South Carolina.
He was born in Stuttgart, where he most likely received his early musical education from his father. Details of his life are sketchy prior to his arrival in New England. In 1734 he moved to Boston, and shortly afterwards to Newport, Rhode Island, where he was hired as an organist; while there he assembled the instrument donated to Trinity Church by George Berkeley, the famous philosopher. In 1736 he moved to Charleston, South Carolina, where he remained for the rest of his life, serving as an organist, harpsichordist and composer. The young Peter Pelham studied with him both in Boston and in Charleston; some of Pachelbel's compositions survive in Pelham's part-books.
Only a handful of works by Charles Pachelbel survive; the most famous is an aria God of sleep, for whom I languish.
References and further reading
- H. Joseph Butler: "Charles Theodore Pachelbel", Grove Music Online ed. L. Macy (Accessed March 2, 2005), (subscription access)
- G.W. Williams: "Early Organists at St Philip's, Charleston", South Carolina Historical Magazine, liv (1953), 83–87
