In music, a "tombeau" is a piece that memorializes someone or something.
French composer Maurice Ravel honored seven of his friends who died in World War I with his Le Tombeau de Couperin.
In addition to honoring his deceased friends, Ravel paid tribute to another French composer, François Couperin (1668-1733). Couperin lived during the Baroque era, like Bach, Handel and Rameau.
Rather than using Couperin's music for Le Tombeau de Couperin, Ravel used musical dances that were popular in the Baroque era.
The titles of the movements reflect this: Fugue, Toccata, Rigaudon, Forlane.
Ravel originally wrote Le Tombeau de Couperin for piano. He later orchestrated Le Tombeau, but omitted two movements (the Toccata and the Fugue) in the orchestral version.
On today's Learning to Listen, you'll hear about Ravel's friends, and you'll hear both versions in full.
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