Willem de Fesch: my 18th century neighbour.

Willem de Fesch was born in Alkmaar in 1687, a place where powerful westerly winds frequently blow. His crib stood close to an old canal and a market full of cheese. A setting that could hardly have been more Dutch.

Yet he deserves an honorable place alongside such giants as Vivaldi and Handel, as his work sounds at least as colourful, playful, inventive and sparkling as that of his contemporaries. As if he, too, had once been shone upon by the radiant Mediterranean sun.

De Fesch started his musical career as leader of the orchestra of the Amsterdam City Theatre in 1710. In 1725 he moved to Antwerp, where he became conductor at Our Lady’s Cathedral. In 1732, he settled in London, where he soon became the leader of the Georg Friedrich Händel’s opera orchestra.

The works of Willem de Fesch include the oratorios Judith (1732) and Joseph (1746), as well as chamber music, concertos and part songs. The oratorios were thought to be lost but 1980 a copy of a manuscript of Joseph was found in London’s Royal Academy of Music. High time to remind Alkmaar of this world-renowned resident!