Lady Halle's Stradivarius

Wilma Neruda owned a 1706 Stradivarius violin, that belonged to the also great violinist Heinrich Wilhelm Ernst. It was given to her by the Duke of Edinburgh, and the Earls of Dudley and Hardwicke in 1876. Above is a picture of a Stradivarius.

Sherlock Holmes and Wilma Neruda

Wilma Neruda was a small character in one of Sherlock Holmes's many adventures! In a busy investigation, Sherlock Holmes paused on his work for Wilma Neruda. He went to see a show of Wilma's (Lady Halle). It was very peculiar for Holmes to do this, because he very rarely diverged from his work. Holmes remarks to Watson, "It was magnificent...Do you remember what Darwin says about music? He claims the power of producing it existed among the human race long before the power of speech was arrived at."

"Violinist to the Queen"

Wilma Neruda, also called Lady Halle, was named "Violinist to the Queen" by Queen Alexandra herself in 1901! Above is a photograph of Lady Halle.

Bach Partita in E Major

www.youtube.com/watch?v=4g5Q1p6C7ho

Click on the link above to watch a modern day interpretation of the Bach Partita for violin in E major, by Vanessa-Mae. Wilma Neruda played it when she was a young girl. This was a very mature piece to be playing at such a naive age, but Neruda was just that talented!

Leopold Jansa (1795-1875)

Professor Leopold Jansa was the teacher of Wilma Neruda once she and her family moved to Vienna. He was a Bohemian violinist. Above is the Bohemian flag.

Josef Neruda

Josef Neruda was very talented as a musician. Josef was a minister organist. He had ten very talented children; one of them being Wilma Neruda.