Relative to other composers of the Classical music era Johann Baptist Georg Neruda (Czech: ) is little known, and his dates of birth and death (given as c1707 and c1780 by the Grove Dictionary) are only approximations. He was born in Bohemia, now part of Czech Republic, to a well-respected musical family. After spending his earlier years gaining a good reputation as a violinist and conductor in Prague and Germany, Neruda became Konzertmeister of the Dresden court orchestra. His compositional output includes eighteen symphonies, fourteen instrumental concertos (including a bassoon concerto), sonata, sacred works and an opera: Les Troqueurs. According to Nimbus Records Ltd. (1994), one of the composer's more significant works is the Concerto in E-flat for Trumpet and Strings. Originally written for the "corno da caccia" or "valveless natural horn" using only the high register, it is now rarely performed on anyt