Louis van Waefelghem

Louis van Waefelghem (13 January 1840, in Bruges – 19 June 1908, in Paris) was a Belgian violinist, violist and one of the greatest viola d'amore players of the 19th century.

Waefelghem was educated at the Athénée Royal in Bruges and then studied violin with Lambert Joseph Meerts [nl] at the Koninklijk Conservatorium in Brussels.

His reputation as a gifted violist quickly spread and, after the Franco-Prussian War (1870–1871), he traveled to London where he played in the Royal Opera orchestra and at chamber concerts of the Musical Union with Joseph Joachim, Leopold Auer, Henri Vieuxtemps, Camillo Sivori, Pablo de Sarasate, and others.

In 1895 Waefelghem, along with colleagues Laurent Grillet [fr] (hurdy-gurdy), Louis Diémer (harpsichord) and Jules Delsart (viola da gamba), founded the Société des Instruments Anciens.

He quickly became one of the greatest viola d'amore players of the 19th century, and being a highly enthusiastic researcher, restored to the world the complete library of music for the instrument which had sunk into oblivion.