«Meditation faite sur ma mort future, la quelle se joüe lentement avec discretion»
Risograph publication of a text by Mikel R. Nieto
“The extinction of life is a hyperobject, unrepresentable because it is an abstraction, a crisis of representation itself. The challenge, then, is to imagine a future that actively brings together everything we are capable of doing.”
Julieta Aranda
On 23 October 1667, Princess Sibylla of Württemberg wrote a letter to Constantijn Huygens, reiterating the grief she felt over the death of her teacher, Johann Jacob Froberger, in May of that year. She wrote:
“From your letter, which pleased me greatly, I inferred how deeply you share my grief over the loss of my beloved, most worthy and honourable teacher and guide, whose sacred death I still mourn daily from the depths of my heart, considering what art and technical mastery have died with him, and that I can no longer enjoy his continuing instruction, which was my greatest pleasure... If only I might be fortunate enough to be with you, since no one in my circle understands this noble art as you do! I would like to play for you Froberger’s ‘Memento mori’ as well as I can. Caspar Grieffgens, the organist of Cologne, also plays this piece and learned it from Mr Froberger’s own hand, note by note. The manner of performance is difficult to discover from the notation. This remains true even when the notation is clearly written and I have examined it with exceptional diligence. I agree with Mr Grieffgen’s opinion that anyone who has not learned the pieces from Mr Froberger’s own hand cannot play them with true discretion, as he played them. May Almighty God grant that we lovers of music may delight with Mr Froberger as we mingle in the heavenly choir of the muses.”
Excerpt from Rebecca Cypess’s article “‘Memento mori Froberger?’ Locating the self in the passage of time” (2012).
The title «Meditation faite sur ma mort future, la quelle se joüe lentement avec discretion» is taken from this composition by Johann Jacob Froberger.
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Graphic design: Silvio García and printing: Jumbo Press.
Publication produced in collaboration with La Panera (Lleida) and with the support of the Spanish Ministry of Culture within the “Public Grants for the Creation, Research and Production of Artistic Projects in Residence” (2025).
Recovery, Transformation and Resilience Plan — Funded by the European Union — Next Generation EU. Government of Spain, Ministry of Culture.