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.

[4] 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.

[7] Contemporaries relate how Vanden Gheyn, in an immaculate, fashionable black suit, stylishly holding his walking stick and affably greeting friends and admirers, scanned the market to see if there were perhaps strangers who had come to listen to his renowned carillon playing.

After twenty minutes he disappeared into the tower of St Peter's where he discarded the fashionable clothing and thereupon opened his concert with a number of preludes.

Vanden Gheyn knew very well that this unrestricted playing was of an exceptional character, as afterwards he appeared once more among his admirers to accept their compliments, dressed in just as immaculate a suit as before the concert.

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 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.

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.

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.

The rediscovery was made solely by Xavier-Victor-Fidèle van Elewyck (1825–1888), an ardent music lover who had studied law at the University of Leuven and remained in the city.

Van Elewyck's curiosity led him to interview descendants of Vanden Gheyn and older town residents.

In seven months, his research recollected important events in Vanden Gheyn's life and identified 51 instrumental compositions from various places.

[11] He published a booklet in 1862 titled Matthias van den Gheyn, le plus grand Organiste et Carillonneur belge du XVIIIc siècle, et les célèbres fondeurs de cloches de ce nom depuis 1450 jusqu' à nos jours [Matthias van den Gheyn, the Greatest Belgian Organist and Carillonist of the 18th century, and the famous bell founders of this name from 1450 to the present day].

[17] Although some of the preludes were published by Van Elewyck, these editions contained many errors,[17] which were not properly corrected until the holograph (clearly written in Vanden Gheyn's own script) was discovered in 1995.

[12][3] Matthias Vanden Gheyn's works are typical of keyboard music from the transitional period between Baroque and Classical styles (c. 1730–1760),[18] a time in which composers sought dramatic effects, striking melodies, and clearer textures.