Alexander Ernst Fesca was born in Karlsruhe on 22 May 1820, as the second of four sons of composer Friedrich Ernst Fesca (1789–1826) and his wife Charlotte (born Dingelstedt, daughter of the horn player Johann Heinrich Dingelstedt).
In 1838, he returned to Karlsruhe. He got his first success with the operetta "Mariette" in the same year. Fesca was known during his short life mostly through his songs and piano pieces in which his talent is coupled with a certain musical lightness. This is probably also the reason why some music scholars deny "deeper level" and "artistic seriousness" of his works.
In 1841, his opera "The French in Spain" was staged with great success. In the same year, Prince Egon von Furstenberg appointed Fesca as Chamber Virtuoso. From 1842, he settled in Brunswick. In the local court theater on 25 July 1847 was premiered Fescas major work, five-act heroic-romantic opera "Il Trovatore" with a libretto by Frederick Schmetzer.
On 22 February 1849, Alexander Ernst Fesca, aged 28, died of lung disease in Braunschweig.
