Topic: Johann Jakob Froberger: „Tombeau pour Blancrocher”, FbWV632
The 17th-century composer J.J.Froberger composed this tombeau in memory of his colleague Monsieur Blancrocher, who is said to have died after tumbling down the stairs in a state of intoxication. Often a tombeau from this period would end with an ascending scale or arpeggio, symbolizing the soul of the deceased person going to Heaven. This tombeau has an unusual and ominous ending: a downward scale, suggesting a terrible fate for M. Blancrocher, who died before the priest could arrive to administer the Last Rites.