Canon in C Major for Piano

A musical canon (from the Greek for rule) is a contrapuntal compositional form in which a voice is imitated by one or more other voices in terms of rhythm and intervals via contrapuntal inversion. The canon as a musical form is ancient dating back through the medieval times with some question whether they had their origin in Greek orthodox church music even earlier. Originally all canons were termed fugues but the term canon came into wide use as a distinct form in the 16th century. Canons while still in use by more recent composers (e.g., Steve Reich) reached their peak during the Baroque era with compositions by JS Bach and others although classical and romantic composers and modern day composers have employed them within broader compositions. Canons may have 2 to multiple independent voices. The primary voice with the initial melody is termed the DUX while other contrapuntal voices are termed COMES.

The Canon in C Major was written in March 2011 as part of a class on composition for high school students in Grass Valley and Nevada City, CA that the composer attended under the tutelage of Nevada County composers Marc Vance and Jerry Grant. It was written as a strict imitative canon at the octave where the second voice enters an octave below the initial voice and imitates the notes of the initial voice exactly. The theme is offset by 1 measure in the initial imitation. The imitation continues throughout the canon to its conclusion.