De Voght, Peter Frans

Annelies Focquaert (translation: Joris Duytschaever)

Peter Frans de Voght studied from 1828 at Mechelen in the major Seminary and became in 1833 a priest and a teacher as well. He taught at the minor Seminary of Mechelen until 1844, subsequently becoming a private tutor for Ferdinand de Meeûs, the later governor of the Société Générale, at the castle of Argenteuil (near Waterloo). On 5 August 1884 he relocated to Mechelen again, pursuing his priestly duties until his death.

After the break-up of the Low Countries in 1830 he had become one of the first prominent poets and partisans of Flemish. As a teacher at the Seminary he wrote the cantata Bekoring en Zege, of Toekomst der Vlaamsche Letteren (Charm and Victory, or the Future of Flemish Literature), performed during the graduation ceremony of 1844.

De Voght assisted Jacques-Nicolas Lemmens in his search for the "correct" Gregorian style and with proofreading for the Nouveau Journal d'Orgue (1850-1852). Together with Edmond Duval he co-edited the Vesperale Romanum cum Psalterio ex Antiphonali Romano fideliter extractum cum cantu emendato in Mechelen (1848). In 1849 he wrote a pamphlet entitled Vesperale romanum. Edition de Malines. Réponse au sujet d'une dissertation sur les melodies grégoriennes..., in which he deals with articles in the Journal historique about the question whether Gregorian had degenerated in the course of the centuries or not. He was also very much involved in the foundation of Lemmens's School for Church Music in 1879.