New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1891-08-08

STATUE OF MOZART IN SALzBUhf
YEAR, 1873 forms, 20 kreutzers; credits appraised
as worthless 500 forms; three silver tablespoons
valued at forms: clothing and linen, AZ
aorins table linen, II forms furniture in the first
room. 81 forms; in the second, 81 horins, ~
kreutzers; in the third, "a forins the principal
item being billiard table valued at 80 forms IN
the fourth 1e0 forms, the principal item here De-
ing pianofore. with pedal" valued au so
forms; library, 70 forms Estimating the HORN
at It's present value in American money the prop
ertv which Mozart left at his death was worth less
than $500.
The two rooms in which Leopold Mozart lived
In the GetredegasSe, In one OF which the conf
poser was born in 1856, are modest enough In goou
sooth but they do not differ from those In which
the majority of Salzburgs citizens live today.
The house itself is of the architectural style
and degree of comfort. or want OF comfort
found in hundreds Of It's fellows. II partaRes
of the essential characteristics Of Salzburg, which
are closeness and gloominess. The low stair
WAYS by which one ascends 10 the third floor
are of stone and vaulted. As life was In SalHburg
one hundred years ago, as life is in Salzburg %
DAY. a poet might occupy the rooms. 80 might
shoemaker | dare say the juxtapOsitton OF poet
and shoemaker might he found in the town to-day.
The family portraits in oil on the walls, though Of
no value as works Of art, give the impression that
the Mozarts were in comfortable circumstances
70 those unfamiliar with the keyed instruments OF
his day. the composers clavichord and pianoiorte
which are on exhibition teach useful object les
son. Very wisely, they are kept strung up and
tuned and there is no prohibition against touching
them Many times in the course of the week
strains from Mozart's compositions come tinkling
| from the corner opposite to that in which little
Woferls cradle stood. The smaller instrument Is
generally called spinet in the books but this is
an error it is clavichOrd, the strings being struck
bv bit Of brass on the end of each key, not pu"ked
by quill as in the of the spinet from Splna
thorn. The thriftness Of the times is suggested
| by the sight of package of The Genuine Court
Plaster, London" which memorandum, supposed
| TO be In the handwriting Of Nissen, says was
| brought by Mozart from London. On his visit TO
the English metropolis he seven years old.
| Evidently Woferl was not permitted TO play with
| q penknife; otherwise a single package of court
plaster would not have lasted him throughout his
boyhood and score Of years beyond.
The other spots in Sazburg with which the
name of Mozart is associated invite reflections con-
corning the social and artistic life of the period in
which he lived chiefly. Personal memories, poeti-
cal though not altogether aavory in spite Of the eff
forts Of his biOgrapher purge his private charac-
| ter cling around the little house slope Of the
| Capuznerberg which was brought from Vienna and
in which in the summer Of 1891 Mozart completed
| his "Zauberioete" The tales OF the life which
Mozart led with registering companions Of both
sexes in this tiny box Of house it consists OF but
one room and Is not more than twenty feet long and
fifteen wide are dscredited now, but If is not I'M
possible that they account, ~ some extent, for The
| unfeeling conduct of Constance, the widow, touch
inc his grave. TO attribute his death 10 disspa-
tions INDUCED in during the last summer of his life
| is probably as foolish performance rs the latter
day effort to present him as a model Of coniugal
fidelity and affection The Iduberi0ctah leus-
chen" as Il is called is now museum Of portraits
and commemorative Wreath6. The Cathedral ~
which some of the precocious boys religious music
was first heard, is a magnificent edihce which
when contested in cOmp1nY with the ATchiepisc0
pal palaces and gardens, with the absurdly smal
and wretchPd theatre. speaks Nollmes concerning
the attitude of the PrmcC.ATchbishops of Salzburg
toward art Opposite the theatre. in what Is now
called the Markartpla1z, is another house. which
was occupied by the family of Leopold a dwell
ing, from which Wofgang departed when he ief
the service Of the Prince. Archbishop and bctool
himself TO Vienna. Like the biTth-house IL is dis
figured by sign reaching entirely across the front
announcing the fact that II is " Mozarts WOhn
haus." tasteful tablet. 1t seems, would not have
| proclaimed the pride which SalzbuTg feels at hav
ing given birth TO such son with sufficient EN-
phasis. IL took gilded letters foot and hal
high TO do that
Travellers know the marvellous natural beaut,
of Salzburgs position in the valley Of the Salzach
how snugly a portion OF it nestes under the eli I'll
of che McenchsDerg on the left bank Of the river
hngghg the sheer rock so closely that it actually
| Overhangs the houses in one Of the streets an(
| now v here the valley widens toward HOhensalz
burg crowned by the castle fortress, Il opens ou
i'm the squares. each with its quaint fountain o
statue. that afford approaches TO the few lare,
structures in the city. Except on the opposite han
Of the river where the graceful slopes Of the Ca
pnzinerberg give easy foOthold 70 lovely villa
that smile from out the deep foliage Of gardens anC
forests. and the wider plain left by the retreat