Franz Xaver Neruda (December 3, 1843 – March 19, 1915) was a Danish

Denmark

Denmark is a Scandinavian country in Northern Europe. The countries of Denmark and Greenland, as well as the Faroe Islands, constitute the Kingdom of Denmark . It is the southernmost of the Nordic countries, southwest of Sweden and south of Norway, and bordered to the south by Germany. Denmark...

 cellist and composer of Moravia

Moravia

Moravia is a historical region in Central Europe in the east of the Czech Republic, and one of the former Czech lands, together with Bohemia and Silesia. It takes its name from the Morava River which rises in the northwest of the region...

n origin.

Life

Franz Xaver Neruda was born in Brno

Brno

Brno by population and area is the second largest city in the Czech Republic, the largest Moravian city, and the historical capital city of the Margraviate of Moravia. Brno is the administrative centre of the South Moravian Region where it forms a separate district Brno-City District...

 into a musical family. He was the fifth child of the organist of Brno Cathedral Josef Neruda

Josef Neruda

Josef Neruda was a Moravian organist and music teacher.-Life:Josef Neruda learned basics of organ playing in Rajhrad monastery. In his youth, he was a teacher assistant in Náměšť nad Oslavou, besides his job he played in Haugwitz chapel and he also taught piano in Olomouc...

. He grew up in Vienna

Vienna

Vienna is the capital and largest city of the Republic of Austria and one of the nine states of Austria. Vienna is Austria's primary city, with a population of about 1.723 million , and is by far the largest city in Austria, as well as its cultural, economic, and political centre...

 and first learned violin with father (from 1852) and after the death of his brother Viktor, who played cello, he learned playing it himself. With his father and four siblings he performed through Europe in Neruda Quartet and also solo. In 1859, he studied cello for half a year with Adrien-François Servais

Adrien-Francois Servais

Adrien-François Servais was one of the most influential cellists of the nineteenth century. He was born and died in Halle, Belgium.Servais was originally trained as a violinist before switching to the cello...

.

Later Neruda became member of the royal chapel in Copenhagen

Copenhagen

Copenhagen is the capital and largest city of Denmark, with an urban population of 1,199,224 and a metropolitan population of 1,930,260 . With the completion of the transnational Øresund Bridge in 2000, Copenhagen has become the centre of the increasingly integrating Øresund Region...

. On 3 December 1868, he founded there a chamber music society and the next year, he was named royal chamber musician. In 1869, he married ballet dancer Camilla Cetti. After engagements in London

London

London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...

 and Manchester

Manchester

Manchester is a city and metropolitan borough in Greater Manchester, England. According to the Office for National Statistics, the 2010 mid-year population estimate for Manchester was 498,800. Manchester lies within one of the UK's largest metropolitan areas, the metropolitan county of Greater...

, he moved back to Copenhagen until he became appointed by Anton Rubinstein

Anton Rubinstein

Anton Grigorevich Rubinstein was a Russian-Jewish pianist, composer and conductor. As a pianist he was regarded as a rival of Franz Liszt, and he ranks amongst the great keyboard virtuosos...

 as a successor of cello professor Karl Davydov at the Saint Petersburg Conservatory

Saint Petersburg Conservatory

The N. A. Rimsky-Korsakov Saint Petersburg State Conservatory is a music school in Saint Petersburg. In 2004, the conservatory had around 275 faculty members and 1,400 students.-History:...

. In 1891, he was appointed conductor of the Stockholm music society and in 1982, conductor of the Copenhagen music society

Musikforeningen

Musikforeningen in Copenhagen was Denmark's most important concert venue in the 19th century. It operated from 1838 to 1931 but it was especially under the leadership of Niels Gade that it became a meeting place for the city's music life with its own symphony orchestra and choir. Carl Nielsen was...

, succeeding Niels Wilhelm Gade

Niels Wilhelm Gade

Niels Wilhelm Gade was a Danish composer, conductor, violinist, organist and teacher. He is considered the most important Danish musician of his day.-Biography:...

. In 1893, he was cello professor at the Copenhagen conservatory. After his death, Carl Nielsen

Carl Nielsen

Carl August Nielsen , , widely recognised as Denmark's greatest composer, was also a conductor and a violinist. Brought up by poor but musically talented parents on the island of Funen, he demonstrated his musical abilities at an early age...

 succeeded him as a director of the Copenhagen music society and he composed a Prologue for recitation and orchestra In memoriam Franz Neruda.

His sister Wilma Neruda

Wilma Neruda

Wilma Neruda, Lady Hallé, originally Wilhelmine Maria Franziska Neruda was a Moravian violinist.-Biography:...

 was a famous violinist.

Works

His major works include five cello concertos, four quartets and three orchestral works. He wrote also many small pieces for piano, organ, cello, violin and some songs. The Cello concerto No. 2 in d minor, Op. 59 has belonged both in past and present times to common pieces of cello repertoire. Cello concertos No. 1 in e minor, Op. 57, No. 3 in A major, Op. 60 and No. 5 in G major, Op. 66 were premiered in May 2005 by cellist Beate Altenburg and Anhaltischen Philharmonie Dessau under Golo Berg. The CD released on this occasion remains the only widely available recording with his works.

Other resources

• He has a several page entry in Kraks Blå Bog / Register 1910-1988 / (in Danish)