Matthias Vanden Gheyn

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Matthias Vanden Gheyn (Dutch: Matthijs Vanden Gheÿn or Ghein; 7 April 1721 – 22 June 1785) 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's works are typical of keyboard music from the transitional period between Baroque and Classical styles (c. 1730–1760), a time in which composers sought dramatic effects, striking melodies, and clearer textures. His compositions draw many similarities to those of George Frideric Handel. His eleven carillon preludes interweave effects idiomatic to bells, such as rapid chromatic passages, appropriate use of the heavier bells, and broken-chord structures in alternating hands. Vanden Gheyn was well aware of taking advantage of the inherent inner harmonic qualities of the carillon, most notably the prominent minor third overtone: the diminished seventh chord (a stack of three minor third intervals) appears in every one of his carillon p

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