was a Flemish musician from the Baroque/Classical transition period. He is a descendant of the famous bell founding family of the same name. During his life, Vanden Gheyn was considered an outstanding virtuoso of the carillon and organ. He is most famous for composing eleven preludes for carillon, which have become standard repertoire among carillonneurs worldwide since the early 1900s. His spot in history was earned in large part due to the tireless research of his biographer Xavier-Victor-Fidèle van Elewyck, a law and music scholar who considered Vanden Gheyn to be the greatest musician of the Southern Netherlands in the 18th century.
Matthias Vanden Gheyn was born in Tienen, Austrian Netherlands (now Belgium) into a celebrated family of Flemish bell founders, which in the context of bellfounding, first appeared in Mechelen in 1506, and continued into the 19th century and beyond through the foundry activities of the Van Aerschodt and Sergeys families. He was the oldest son of André-François II Van den Gheyn, the head of the family foundry at the time. In 1725, André-François II was commissioned by the city council of Leuven to cast a new city carillon to be installed in St. Peter's Church. He cast the small bells in Tienen and moved to Leuven in 1727 to cast the three largest bells there. The carillon was completed in 1728.
André-François II died in 1731, and his brother came to Leuven to take over the family foundry. As early as 1732, Matthias began helping his uncle with bell founding. In 1738, the pair cast the bells for the carillon of Nijmegen and earlier the carillon for Veere in 1734/35. It was likely that Matthias was intended to succeed his father as the family bell founder; however, in 1739, he chose to pursue a career in music, leaving the succession of the family business to his younger brother, Andreas Jozef.
Vanden Gheyn's musical talents were clear from an early age. At 14, he taught Mattheus van Frachem, the son of the sexton of Steenokkerzeel, to play the carillon. He likely received his first formal musical education from Abbé Dieudonné Raick, then organist at St. Peter's Church. He replaced his teacher in that post in 1741 at just 20 years old.
Four years later, in June 1745, Karel Peeters, who as Leuven's city carillonist played the St. Peter's Church carillon, died. The city council appealed via the Gazette van Antwerpen for all interested parties to present themselves for the vacant position. On 1 July, Vanden Gheyn and four other applicants met before a jury of prominent musicians and scholars. The jury selected a set of works to be performed on the carillon and judged each of the performances in a blind audition. Vanden Gheyn was last to perform, facing against two organists from Leuven, a carillonist from Soignies, and a carillonist from Dendermonde. The jury stated that Vanden Gheyn "had excelled considerably above the others." He was declared the victor and new Leuven city carillonist in front of the a crowd assembled in the Grand-Market Square and in the surrounding streets, the entire magistrate of the city gathered in an official session, and several famous musicians of the time. He was 24 years old. He remained in Leuven in charge of the organ and carillon until his death 40 years later The post of city carillonist came with a modest salary and commissions. Vanden Gheyn was required to play the carillon each Sunday, on all regular festivals of the church, on municipal feast days, and for any other occasion the city saw fit. In addition, he was expected to maintain the musical quality of the flawed carillon at his own expense The city initially included a stipulation to retune the carillon's bells, though he protested successfully to have it removed from his contract. Vanden Gheyn acted as advisor in projects of organ and carillon building and composed music for carillon, organ and harpsichord. In 1772, he served on the jury to appoint the new city carillonist of Mechelen in the same style of blind audition that netted him his own position in Leuven. At least three of his works were published during his lifetime (see § Musical works). He was also active as a pedagogue, judging by two treatises he wrote about the basso-continuo practice. The first dates from c. 1760 and was published in Leuven; the second dates from 1783 and is preserved in manuscript.[6] His wife Anna Catharina Lints, with whom he had 17 children, ran a cloth shop in Brusselsestraat.
Vanden Gheyn remained organist of St. Peter’s and city carillonist of Leuven until his death in 1785. Days later, the following obituary appeared in the Leuven weekly news: "Mr. Mathias [sic] vanden Gheyn very notorious Carillonneur of this City, and Organist of St. Peter's Church and Chapter House, very noted for his music publications for both Organ and Carillon, has died on Wednesday the 22nd of this month."
His son Joost Thomas succeeded him in 1785 as the Leuven city carillonist. He lived in dissatisfaction with the city council and resigned in 1821. Some of the descendants of Vanden Gheyn held important positions in social, religious and academic walks of life in Leuven, Ghent and Brussels in the 19th and 20th centuries. For example, his great-grandson Gabriel Vanden Gheyn was canon and housekeeper of St Bavo's Cathedral in Ghent. He was a key witness in the case of the 1934 theft of the panel The Just Judges by the Van Eyck brothers.
