Salzburg’s curtain of silence

The introduction of Maynard Solomon’s Mozart biography starts with a startling realization. Apparently there exists a guidebook to Salzburg from 1792-93 by a Lorenz Hübner that, among many other things, lists past and present inhabitants of various Salzburg streets. Familiar names come by for the Getreidegasse, where Mozart was born. And mention is made of the Tanzmeisterhaus, where Leopold Mozart lived from 1773 until his death in 1787. But nowhere is the name of Mozart to be found.

We know of course that Wolfgang had a troubled relation with Salzburg. His move to Vienna in 1781 was clearly seen as a defection by Salzburg’s archbishop Colloredo. But I find it quite astonishing that this has led to the censoring of his name from historic overviews like Hübner’s guidebook. And not only Wolfgang’s name, but also his father’s. Solomon aptly speaks of a curtain of silence that had begun to descend in Salzburg well before Wolfgang’s death. It wasn’t lifted until the middle of the 19th century, when in 1842 the first Mozart statue was unveiled in his home town. One wonders how it can be that both Wolfgang’s sister and his wife chose Salzburg as the place to spend their old age and, ultimately, be buried.

Links:

• http://www.salzburg.com/wiki/index.php/Lorenz_H%C3%BCbner

Tags: getreidegasse, leopold mozart, lorenz hübner, maynard solomon, mozart, salzburg, wolfgang