Willem de Fesch
Illustration — Willem de Fesch Willem de Fesch (1687 in Alkmaar – 3 January 1761) was a virtuoso Dutch violinist and composer. The pupil of Karel Rosier, who was a Vice-Kapellmeister in Bonn, de Fesch later married his daughter, Maria Anna Rosier. De Fesch was active in Amsterdam between 1710 and 1725.
Willem de Fesch
François Morellon de La Cave / After Andrea Soldi · This file comes from Gallica Digital Library and is available under the digital ID btv1b84170935 · Public domain
- Born
- 1687 · Alkmaar.
- Died
- 1761 · London.
- Nationality
- Dutch Republic
- Occupation
- composer · violinist
- Movements
- Baroque music
- Honours
- ANV -Visser Neerlandia-price for Music
- Languages
- Dutch
VALÉORINE Encyclopedia
VALÉORINE documentary reading
Documentary summary
Illustration — Willem de Fesch Willem de Fesch (1687 in Alkmaar – 3 January 1761) was a virtuoso Dutch violinist and composer. The pupil of Karel Rosier, who was a Vice-Kapellmeister in Bonn, de Fesch later married his daughter, Maria Anna Rosier. De Fesch was active in Amsterdam between 1710 and 1725.
Admitted source layer · organised and presented by VALÉORINE
Reference Check
Propose documentary evidence for Willem de Fesch. A contribution is never written directly as fact: identity, source, rights and evidence gates still decide.
Sign in to contribute
World of VALÉORINE
Documentary connections
Only confirmed graph relationships appear here. Images are shown only when their identity and reuse rights both pass the documentary gate.
Documentary evidence
Documentary basis
Authority files
wikidata · Q999550 · wikipedia · Willem de Fesch
In this article
Works
Works
From 1725 to 1731 he served as Kapellmeister at Antwerp Cathedral. Thereafter he moved to London where he gave concerts and played the violin in Handel's orchestra in 1746. In 1748 and 1749 he conducted at Marylebone Gardens. He apparently made no public appearances after 1750. His works included the oratorios Judith (1732) and Joseph (1746), as well as chamber duets, solo and trio sonatas, concertos and part songs. Both oratorios were thought lost until 1980 when a copy of a manuscript of Joseph was found in London's Royal Academy of Music. De Fesch's music was influenced by the Italians, particularly Vivaldi, as well as Handel.
• Op. 1: 6 Sonate per 2 Violini e 6 Sonate per due Cioloncelli (Roger/Amsterdam 1715) • Op. 2: Molti Concerti e Concerti grossi (Roger/Amsterdam 1717) • Op. 3: Molti Concerti e Concerti grossi (Roger/Amsterdam 1718) • Op. 4: 6 Sonate per Violino e Basso continuo (B. c.), 6 Sonate per 2 violoncelli (1725) • Op. 5: Concerti e Concerti grossi (Le Cène/Amsterdam 1725) • Op. 6: Sonate per Strumento solo con B. c. (1730) • Op. 7: 10 Sonate a tre (a 2 Flauti o Violini e Basso continuo) (1733) • Op. 8: Sonate (1736) • Op. 9: Sonate per 2 Violini o Flauti (Walsh/London 1739) • Op. 10: Molti Concerti e Concerti grossi (Walsh/London 1741) • Op. 11: Duo per 2 Violoni o Flauti (1743) • Op. 12: Sonate per 2 Violoni o Flauti (1748) • Op. 13: Sonate per Violoncello e B. c. (1750) • Carillon (c. circa 1725–26) • Missa paschalis (1730) • Oratorios Judith (1733), Joseph (1745)
Life and career
Dated record
Life and career
The full dated record · 1 entries
1761
Willem de Fesch died at London.
Places
Named by the record
Places
Only places the record itself states, plotted where the house gazetteer settles their coordinates. Nothing is inferred from a name or a nationality.
Alkmaar.
Birth place
London.
Death place
Primary material
Documents and archives
scholarly publication
- Fesch, Willem De (bap. 1687, d. 1761), composer and musical performer, Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, 2004
Scholarly · Crossref registry · 2004
- Willem de Fesch: International Eighteenth-Century Dutch Composer, The Great Emporium, 1992
Scholarly · Crossref registry · 1992
reference work
- “Willem de Fesch”, English Wikipedia, consulted as further reading
Reputable secondary · Wikipedia
authority record
- Wikidata, structured authority record Q999550: Willem de Fesch
General reference · Wikidata
Notes from the source article
Cited by Wikipedia
Notes from the source article
These works are cited by the source article, in its own numbering. They are recorded as its citations, not as sources VALÉORINE has verified.
- 1.De doopdatum wordt gehanteerd door Frans van den Bremt pagina 11 en 233 en Regionaal Archief Alkmaar
- 2.Gustav Leonhardt en Frans Bruggen in de Sonate in G majeur uit 1964
- 3.Leidsche Courant, 19 september 1987, pagina 33
- 4.*Wil Dekker, Dick van den Heuvel, Hilary Staples: Is de "Missa in G" Van Willem De Fesch? Een reactie op Robert R. Tuslers A Misplaced Attribution. Willem de Fesch and the "Missa in G" in: Tijdschrift van de Koninklijke Vereniging voor Nederlandse Muziekgeschiedenis jg. 56 nr. 2 (2006), pp. 127-138.
References
Citations
References
Each reference names the institution holding it, so a reader may go to the document itself.
scholarly publication
Fesch, Willem De (bap. 1687, d. 1761), composer and musical performer, Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, 2004Crossref registry
Institutional witnessscholarly publication
Willem de Fesch: International Eighteenth-Century Dutch Composer, The Great Emporium, 1992Crossref registry
Institutional witnessreference work
Secondary witnessauthority record
General reference
The Encyclopedia exists whether or not anything is for sale. Corrections are recorded rather than overwritten, and every version of this record is kept. Published 14 August 2026.
Elsewhere in Music memorabilia
42,307 published records in this field, each with its sources named.
- Willard RobisonPerson
- Willard WatermanPerson
- Willem AndriessenPerson
- Willem BreukerPerson
- Willem DuysPerson
- Willem JethsPerson
- Willem KerstersPerson
- Willem KesPerson
Best supported in this field
For owners
Own a work by Willem de Fesch?
A specialist will read what you send and tell you what the house can establish, what it cannot, and whether the object is suited to sale. There is no charge and no obligation. The object stays with you throughout; nothing is shipped to us unless it is arranged in writing beforehand.