14 Facts About Willem Kes

Willem Kes was the first principal conductor of the Concertgebouw Orchestra of Amsterdam, holding that position from 1888 to 1895.

Willem Kes was the son of the dairy trader Adrianus Stoffel Kes and Cornelia Maria Krekelenbrug.

Willem Kes received his initial training as a violist and composer in Dordrecht with Ferdinand Bohme, Theodorus Thijssens and Friedrich Wilhelm Nothdurft.

Willem Kes completed his studies at the Brussels Conservatory with violinist-composer Henryk Wieniawski and Louis Brassin, partly financing his studies partly by taking part in performances.

Willem Kes was tasked to put together the entirely new Concertgebouworkest, according to his wishes, in order to stimulate the nascent musical scene in the Netherlands.

Willem Kes put an end to the 19th-century habit of viewing a musical performance as primarily a social event.

Willem Kes put music first and instilled strict discipline in both his musicians and the audience.

Willem Kes introduced symphonic poems by Richard Strauss to the Netherlands: Don Juan in 1891 and Macbeth a year later.

When Kes retired in 1895 to join the Scottish Orchestra in Glasgow, his successor Willem Mengelberg played Franz Liszt's Piano Concerto in E flat major as soloist at the farewell concert.

Thanks to Willem Kes, Mengelberg was put in charge of a very disciplined orchestra, which under his direction grew into one of the major orchestras of the world.

Willem Kes concluded his musical career in Koblenz, where he was director of the conservatory and conductor of the Musikverein from 1905 to 1926.

Willem Kes's body is interred at the Stahnsdorf South-Western Cemetery near Berlin.

In 1894 Willem Kes was made a knight in the Order of Orange-Nassau.

Willem Kes wrote works for orchestra, chamber music and songs.