Jan Krtitel Jiri Neruda was one of the leading Czech-born musicians of the middle part of the eighteenth century. (Johann Baptist Georg is the German translation of his given names.) Neruda is not an uncommon name for Czech musicians. He was the brother of Jan Chrysostomos Neruda and father of Ludvik and Antonin Bedrich Neruda, but apparently not related to the family founded by organist Josef Neruda or the Romantic-era Czech cellist Alois Neruda. This subject was a violinist who was educated in Prague, got a job as a theater orchestra violinist while still a student and kept it until 1750, when he joined the court orchestra at Dresden, rising to become its concertmaster. He was a notable journeyman composer of the era, writing sacred works, 18 symphonies, 14 concertos, and some trio sonatas, mostly in the new galant style that emerged after Baroque music fell out of favor.