city, and at least as good as the carillon of Diest by Pieter Hemony. The first bells were cast in Tienen, but then Vanden Gheyn set up a new foundry in Leuven for the larger bells. The 40 bells were finished in 1728, but nine had to be recast to satisfy the requirements, and even then the carillon was only of mediocre quality. The foundry remained active in Leuven thereafter. Peter Vanden Gheyn When Andries Vanden Gheyn died in or about 1730, his widow Elisabeth was unable to continue the foundry alone. Andries' brother Peter Vanden Gheyn, an Alexian brother, became the new bell founder in 1732. His first carillon, a 32-bell example, was finished by 1734. That same year, the St. James' Church, Antwerp bought a carillon from Vanden Gheyn. In 1735, he delivered 21 new bells for the carillon of the church of Steenokkerzeel (which had been ordered from Andries some years before), and some bells for the town hall of Veere and a carillon for the church of Nieuwpoort. He also completed the carillon in Nijmegen, where work had been started by Jean-Baptiste Levache, a bell founder from Liège but had been found unsatisfactory. Matthias Vanden Gheyn The oldest son of Andries Vanden Gheyn, Matthias (or Matthijs) Vanden Gheyn, was born in 1721. He helped Peter Vanden Gheyn in the foundry from 1732 on, but instead of continuing the foundry he went for a musical career, and became organist at the St. Peter's Church, Leuven in 1741. When in 1745 the carillon player of Leuven died, Matthias was chosen from among 5 candidates (three organists from Leuven, and the carillon players from Soignies and Dendermonde) as the new city carillonneur after a blind audition. Matthias became famous as a carillon player, and was the first to compose music specifically for the instrument. His son Joost succeeded him in 1785 as Leuven city carillon player. Andreas Jozef Vanden Gheyn The third son of Andries Vanden Gheyn, also calles Andries but usually referred to as Andreas or Andreas Jozef (2 December 1727 - 1793), continued the foundry. Peter Vanden Gheyn had continued as bellfounder after the death of Elisabeth Vanden Gheyn in 1745, but by 1751 Andreas was the new bellfounder. The St. Quentin's Cathedral in Hasselt had lost its previous carillon in 1725 when it was struck by lightning. A replacement carillon was found wanting, and they asked