My friend was an enthusiastic musician, being himself not only a very capable performer, but a composer of no ordinary merit. All the afternoon he sat in the stalls wrapped in the most perfect happiness, gently waving his long thin fingers in time to the music, while his gently smiling face and his languid, dreamy eyes were as unlike those of Holmes the sleuth-hound, Holmes the relentless, keen-witted, ready-handed criminal agent, as it was possible to conceive" - Watson on Holmes (REDH).

Holmes was a music connoisseur. He played the violin (including Mendelssohn's Lieder and other favorites). He had bought his violin at a Jewish broker's in London's Tottenham Court Road for 55 shillings. It was a Stradivarius (worth at least 500 guineas).

Stradivarius

St. James Hall

He enjoyed listening to Pablo Sarasate at St. Jame's Hall, Norman Neruda playing Choplin, Paganini (CARD), Les Huguenots with the De Reszkes (accompanied by Watson), and German music.

In REDH, Holmes notes "I observe that there is a good deal of German music on the programme, which is rather more to my taste than Italian or French. It is introspective, and I want to introspect."

Holmes Taking in the Music