Willem de Fesch (1687-1761)
- Sonata (III) d-moll, Opera Ottava (1733)
Performers: Hans Meier (cello) Inge Sauer (cembalo)
Engraving: François Morellon La Cave (1696-1768), naar Andrea Soldi - Portret van Willem de Fesch (1751)
Further info: Frühe Cellosonaten
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Dutch composer and violinist. He was the son of Louis de Fesch and
Johanna Maasbragt. Despite his parents’ marriage in Amsterdam (1685) and
his brother’s birth in Alkmaar, the family orginated from the Pays de
Liège and returned to Liège before 1690. De Fesch may have been a
choirboy or even a singer in Liège during the 1690s. By about 1710 both
he and his elder brother Pieter (1685-?) had settled in Amsterdam:
Pieter had stayed some years in Leiden, where he was registered as a
musician at the University on 6 June 1706. In Amsterdam De Fesch married
Anna Maria Rosier, daughter of the composer Carl Rosier, who was active
in Bonn, Amsterdam and Cologne. The names Willem, Pieter and Anna Maria
de Fesch occur in the accounts of the City Theatre for dancing, singing
and playing during the years 1708-21. De Fesch remained in Amsterdam
until 1725. During this period he made several appearances as a concert
violinist, including three at Antwerp in 1718, 1719 and 1722. In 1725 he
was appointed kapelmeester at Antwerp Cathedral in succession to
Alphonse d’Eve, a post he held until 1731, when he resigned because of
repeated quarrels with the chapter and the chapel – quarrels for which
his temperamental, mean and slovenly character was apparently to blame. A
few years later De Fesch was with his family in London, where he
remained for the rest of his life. In London, De Fesch was able to
develop his activity as a concert violinist and virtuoso to the full. He
seems to have been organist of the Venetian Chapel in London during the
first years of his stay in England. He also appeared frequently as a
concert violinist, often performing his own compositions. In 1748 and
1749 De Fesch directed the orchestra at Marylebone Gardens. After 1750
he seems to have withdrawn from public life.
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