Vanderghinste, Pieter

Kim De Brabander

The composer, conductor and music teacher Pieter (Peter) Jozef Vanderghinste grew up in Kortrijk. He was the oldest son of Adriaan Amand, a shoe- and boot-maker, and Isabella Rosa Vandeputte. Of the nine children of Adriaan and Isabella he was - as far as is known - the only one with a musical career.

Pieter Vanderghinste is likely to have been initiated into music by Pieter van Eeckhout, music director of St Martin's church in Kortrijk, whom he later succeeded in that function. His oldest known work, a Benedictus for two voices (1807), was dedicated to his master. Vanderghinste remained attached to St Martin's church for no less than forty years.

In addition to his position as Kapellmeister Vanderghinste was also active as a music teacher. From 1812 on he gave music lessons in Harelbeke, in St Saviour's church. At that time Harelbeke also had an orchestra of its own, where Peter Benoit's father for one - a polyvalent musician - played the violin. This orchestra's performances included works by regional composers such as Pieter Vanderghinste, who later also had contacts with Peter Benoit himself.

Vanderghinste optimally took advantage of cultural life in Kortrijk. From its foundation in 1812 he was a member of the ‘Maatschappy der vrienden van Schoone Kunsten te Kortryk’ also known as the ‘Société des Amis des Beaux-Arts à Courtrai’. This society mainly promoted visual art works, but sponsored music and literature as well. A chronicle of the Kortrijk native Jan Baptist Filleul mentions that during the celebration of the official homologation of the society in 1816 a song by Pieter Vanderghinste was heard. Not only was the latter a society member, but he also became chairman of the executive committee. In 1842 he was still registered as a member, though he ended his task of chairman a few years earlier.

In 1817 Vanderghinste had already made an attempt at founding an a capella male choir, presumably inspired by a travelling European choral company he got in touch with. Vanderghinste's great affinity with choral music is proven thirty years later by his activities for the Kortrijk Choral Society. He was a co-founder of this choir in 1847, for a long period functioning as its president. As a conductor he participated in festivals and competitions in cities like Ghent, Brussels and Bruges. In its turn the company organised some festivals as well, mainly on the occasion of local festive events.

Vanderghinste also proved his mettle in the world of wind and percussion orchestras and bands. In 1836 he was co-founder of the ‘Société des fanfares’. This initiative originated from the dissolution of the civic patrol band of the ‘Koninklijke Harmonie Societeit’ (Royal Wind Band Society), of which Vanderghinste was a faithful active member. He was also chairman of the society and presumably conductor of the wind band, which however had a short existence.

From 1843 to 1860 Vanderghinste conducted the philharmonic orchestra of Ingelmunster, which then operated under the name of 'Muziekminnend Genootschap' or 'Société Philharmonique'. His arrival gave the society a new impetus.

When in 1850 a municipal 'Académie de Musique' was founded in his native town, Vanderghinste was appointed as one of the first three music teachers. For nine years, until the academy closed for lack of success, he taught classes there. The fifty-two pupils that attended school then could learn to play the cello, the trumpet and the bassoon with him.

Pieter Vanderghinste had nine children with his wife Constance Albertina Simoens, four sons likewise showing signs of great artistic interest. Above all Leopold (1835-1884) fancied music. Following his father's footsteps, his musical functions included being composer and organist of St Michael's church and music director of St Martin's church in Kortrijk.

From the composer Vanderghinste as many as two hundred works are known, the majority of them being kept in the private collections of Peel (Kortrijk) and Roelstraete (Heule). His rich oeuvre almost exclusively consists of religious works, which he wrote primarily in function of his directorship as Kapellmeister. He wrote plenty of masses, elegies and mass fragments such as cantatas, hymns, etc. For his choral company he composed a number of choral works, both on Dutch and French texts. The majority of the other works were occasional compositions for weddings, homages and funerals. The instrumental works he left behind are rather scarce. Remarkable though are the nationally inspired works in the style of the Brabançonne (the Belgian national anthem), which Vanderghinste composed after 1830, for instance A Léopold, roi des Belges, on a text of Godfried Donche.

Pieter Vanderghinste is primarily known as the author of one of the first operas composed on a Flemish libretto, Het Pruisisch Soldatenkwartier (The Prussian Soldiers Barracks), on a text of Jan Baptiste Joseph Hofman.