Pachelbel's Canon in D with Waltzing Matilda

Back in November 2009 I was playing Pachelbel's Canon in D when it struck me that the note sequence goes hand-in-hand with Australia's most widely known bush ballad, Waltzing Matilda.

Now a lot of people have played around with Pachelbel's Canon. The famous chord progression features in modern songs such as 'All Together Now' by The Farm and 'With or Without You' by U2. Variations on the theme have been widely used in TV series, movies and games. If you're interested in finding out more about this, then check out Stefan Helander's website pachelbelcanon.com.

But to my knowledge, no-one has tried to overlay the Canon with Waltzing Matilda. (It happens to overlay very neatly with the theme tune to Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy as well - but that's another story.)

Today, Australia's ABC Classic FM played my arrangement of Pachelbel's Canon in D with Waltzing Matilda, which you can listen to and download for free at alistairjohnston.com.

The music was also played at a wedding in Bath, England this weekend. The mother of the bride contacted me back in January after searching for a piece of music to be played while her English daughter walked up the aisle with an Australian stockman from NSW. She was hoping to find some music that would embrace the bride and groom's backgrounds, and felt the Canon in D with Waltzing Matilda would be ideal for this.

The wedding took place on Saturday. I'm told it was a perfect day and that a few tears were shed as the bridge and groom walked down the aisle, which is lovely. I wish them the very best of luck for the future.