Thanks to Mattheson's "Grundlage einer Ehren-Pforte" (a kind of 18th century "Who is who .." for the German Baroque) we are well aware of the visit that Johann Jacob Froberger (1616-1667) paid to the court around 1649 of the Elector Johann Georg I in Dresden. During this visit, at the insistence of the Elector, a musical competition would have taken place between the Froberger and Matthias Weckman
… (1616-1674), who was employed by the Electoral Court. The mutual admiration between the two harpsichords led to a lifelong friendship. Their friendship is immortalized on a CD by Gustav Leonhardt with toccatas and suites by Froberger and Weckmann. The program includes the very personal "Tombeau sur la mort de Monsieur Blancroucher" by Froberger, Coincidentally, the only surviving copy is handed down to us in Weckman's handwriting. (HJ) _more