2021 - 01 · Orgelkunst vzw

Frans Jespers, Southern Netherlandish organists and organ builders in North Brabant in the first half of the 19th century
In 1796, with the granting of freedom of religion, Catholics in North Brabant gained the opportunity to once again practice church music, supported by organ playing that had been impossible in most places for a century and a half. In the same year, all monasteries and many large churches in the Southern Netherlands had to be closed. It was to be expected that southern organ builders would find much work in North Brabant, and that dismissed professional organists could find employment there. Indeed, in the two following decades, nearly thirty organs moved from south to north. Southern Netherlandish organ builders found some work relocating and constructing new organs. But few professional organists found positions in North Brabant. The main cause was the poverty of the region, which meant that organists could scarcely earn additional musical income. Moreover, especially after 1815, a musical contrast grew between the conservative south and the interest in modern Viennese music in North Brabant churches. The same applied to organ building: in the south, it remained traditional, while in the north, modern instruments suited for more homophonic use were desired. In three successive waves of approximately twenty years each, church music practice in North Brabant renewed itself via the Viennese classics toward early French Romanticism. The small regional organ builders were able to deliver better organs for this purpose than their Southern Netherlandish colleagues. After Belgium became independent in 1830, the transfer of organs and music became even more difficult. Nevertheless, ten Southern Netherlandish musicians attempted the move, most of them in 1804. Some, such as Petrus Aertgeerts, Hermanus Boex, Philippus van Roy, Paulus Verbeke, Hubertus Haenen, and especially Jean van Paesschen, obtained good positions in the main churches of North Brabant’s cities. They became key figures in local musical life and composed various meritorious works for their church choirs.

Gilbert Huybens; Matthias Vanden Gheyn ‘organist and carillon player of the city of Leuven’
On 7 April 1721, Matthias Vanden Gheyn was born in Tienen. From 1741 until his death on 22 June 1785, he played a prominent role in the musical life of Leuven: he was organist of St. Peter’s Church and the city carillonneur, and distinguished himself as a harpsichordist, composer, and music theorist. He is the only musician to have been given a statue in the façade of the town hall.
Matthias descended from a renowned family of bell founders. Patriarch Willem Vanden Ghein (†1533) founded a bell foundry in Mechelen in 1506, which was further expanded by his sons and grandsons.
Upon his arrival in Leuven, Matthias was six years old. Xavier Van Elewyck suggested that he received his musical training from, among others, Dieudonné Raick (1702–1764), organist of St. Peter’s (1721–1741), and Carolus Josephus Peeters (†1745), city carillonneur (1732–1745). After Dieudonné Raick’s dismissal on 25 August 1741, the 20-year-old Matthias was appointed organist of St. Peter’s on 6 September. Vanden Gheyn also regularly served as an organ expert.
Matthias’ oeuvre includes music for harpsichord, organ, carillon, and violin. In addition to the organ versets, Matthias’ list of works contains 9 fugues, 5 preludes, 3 andantes, 2 allegros, 1 aria, 1 minuet, and a small instrumental “cantata.” For the first time, a catalogue of Vanden Gheyn’s works (71 numbers) is being published.

2021 - 01

Content

Details