A customs official and jurist in Nuremberg, Christoph Gottlieb von Murr (1733–1811) was a remarkable polymath, with wide interests in the arts and sciences. A correspondent of C. P. E. Bach and Forkel, he collected the music of J. S. Bach and was responsible for the rediscovery of the Lochamer-Liederbuch (see Neumann & Schulze 1972, 182–83, 311; and Schulze 1981, 38–39). In 1759 Murr visited Italy, and on his return journey arrived in Salzburg in the final weeks of 1760, apparently in the company of the violinist Johann Georg Holzbogen (see the letter of recommendation that Tartini wrote to Nardini on behalf of the travellers on 14 Dec 1760). Many years later, in the course of a long article on physician, occultist, and Salzburg resident Paracelsus (Phillip von Hohenheim, 1493–1541), Murr recalled that Leopold Mozart had shown him the house where Paracelsus died. The house, Platzl 3, still has a portrait of Paracelsus on its wall today.

It was during this visit that Leopold gave Murr the gift of a manuscript containing a song, “Der Mensch seufzt stets in Kreuz und Weh” (LMV VI:1) and a keyboard minuet in G. The manuscript, today in Budapest, bears an inscription from Leopold to Murr dated Jan 1761, including a quotation adapted from Ovid’s Fasti (i:175–76): “Now joyful words are spoken on the Kalends, and we give and receive good wishes”. Murr briefly mentioned Leopold and Wolfgang in 1776 (Neue Folge, 101).

This item is also noted independently in Eisen & Broy (2018).

We are grateful to Anne-Louise Luccarini for information about the timing of Murr's visit.