Most of the works are in honor of someone. The first piece below entitled "Tombeau sur la mort de Monseigneur Comte de Logy" (Tombeau on the death of Count de Logy), was written by Sylvius Leoplod Weiss in 1721 to honor Jan Antnonin Losy, who was the Count de Logy.

Count Logy, pictured to the left, was born in 1650, and though a Bohemian aristocrat was actually an accomplished lutenist as well. He played with some of the more well known lute players of the time. The count died at age 71 of "dropsy", which was the historic term for edema. As was fitting, another lutenist, in fact one of the most important lutenists in history, S. Weiss wrote a piece commemorating Count Logy.

For an example of a more personal tombeau, listen to the 2nd piece below,"Tombeau de M. Blancheroche" by J.J. Froberger. Froberger was a well known composer living in Paris in 1652. He and fellow lutenist Charles Fleury, known by the name Blancrocher, were out on the town when Blancrocher in an intoxicated state stumbled down some stairs and died in Froberger's arms. Interestingly, a typical tombeau ends in an upward scale, implying the soul headed to heaven, however, Froberger ends his tribute to his friend ominously with a downward scale, as it was known that a priest was unable to administer Last Rites before Blancrocher died.

Is the tombeau still around? It actually is, I found several examples of tombeux in the modern era, such as Michael Daugherty's Le Tombeau de Liberace (1996), and Tombeau de Carol Lombard by Otto Henry.

Below, courtesy of YouTube, are examples of the two 16th century pieces discussed above.