Josef Neruda

Josef Neruda learned the basics of organ playing in the Rajhrad monastery. In his youth, he was a teacher assistant in Náměšť nad Oslavou, besides this he played in Haugwitz chapel and taught piano in Olomouc. In 1832, he accepted an offer to become the minister organist in Brno. He kept this position for 36 years.

Josef Neruda had ten very talented children. For example, his daughter Amálie Neruda (married Wickenhauser, 1834–1890) was a talented pianist, one of her students was Leoš Janáček. Wilma Neruda was a gifted violinist and a group of her supporters including the Prince of Wales, later King Edward VII, donated a palazzo in Asolo, near Venice. Another daughter, Maria Neruda, also a violinist, married the singer and composer Fritz Arlberg. His son, Franz Xaver Neruda, was a great cellist who later became professor at the conservatories in Saint Petersburg and Copenhagen.