Arminda's Memories
A dive into the life and legacy of an important personality in the musical and museum field in Brazil. On completing 60 years of history, the Villa-Lobos Museum proudly honors its institution's creator and first director.
Arminda Villa-Lobos (1966)Museum Villa-Lobos
After the death of her partner Heitor Villa-Lobos, with the support of friends, artists, intellectuals and politicians, Arminda Neves d'Almeida Villa-Lobos (1907-1985) coordinated the creation of the Museu Villa-Lobos (MVL) and directed it from 1960 to 1985.
Heitor and Arminda Villa-Lobos (1945-01-01)Museum Villa-Lobos
Born in Ramos, a suburb of Rio de Janeiro, Mindinha was a student at the Instituto Nacional de Música and, in 1932, joined the team responsible for implementing a musical education project coordinated by Villa-Lobos; at this moment, she gets closer to the composer.
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This exhibition space focuses on the living room of the apartment at Rua Araújo Porto Alegre, 56, where Villa-Lobos and Mindinha lived together while they were in Rio.
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Very close to Palácio Capanema and the Brazilian Press Academy, the property where the couple lived, today is entirely dedicated to offices. In the living room of their apartment, the couple received friends and musicians, performed soirees and rehearsals.
Villa-Lobos (1938) by Luís PerlottiMuseum Villa-Lobos
Among other objects, the sculpture by Villa-Lobos in white faience from the MVL collection, produced in 1938 and authored by Luiz Perlotti, is displayed in this room.
Arminda Villa-Lobos (1944)Museum Villa-Lobos
Third of a total of eight siblings, Mindinha is the daughter of an immigrant couple – Joaquim Francisco d'Almeida, Portuguese, and Hermenegilda Neves, Spanish. In the early 1930s, she graduated as a violinist at the Instituto Nacional de Música.
Heitor Villa-Lobos, Arminda e equipe da SEMA (c. 1935 - c. 1940) by Não identificadoMuseum Villa-Lobos
Alongside Villa-Lobos since 1932, Arminda was part of a network of intellectuals devoted to the institutionalization of music education in schools. She was a teacher, instrumentalist and also acted as a copyist – her musical spelling was confused with that of the composer.
Heitor and Arminda Villa-Lobos (1951-07-26)Museum Villa-Lobos
In 1936, through a letter, Villa-Lobos broke his 23-year marriage with the pianist and teacher Lucília Guimarães Villa-Lobos, and went to live with Arminda. Occurring in a troubled way, the end generated prejudice and suffering for the three.
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This room is a reference to Arminda's room at Palácio Capanema, the first headquarters of the MVL – a mix of work environment and exhibition space. His table was a kind of shop window, filled with photographs.
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On the walls of Mindinha's room, themed here, more photos, diplomas, caricatures and engravings by Villa-Lobos. Sheet music albums were kept on the shelf beside him.
Villa-Lobos (1940) by Dimitri IsmailovitchMuseum Villa-Lobos
This room presents this portrait of Villa-Lobos, painted by Dimitri Ismailovitch in 1940. The canvas was painted in the context of the assembly of the Sôdade do Cordão carnival block, an initiative developed by Villa-Lobos.
Arminda Villa-Lobos na sede do Museu Villa-Lobos (1975/1984) by DesconhecidoMuseum Villa-Lobos
After Villa-Lobos's death, Arminda's life turned into a dedicated and arduous effort to preserve and cultivate her companion's memory. The product of this action was the creation of the Villa-Lobos Museum, on June 22, 1960, through a decree of President Juscelino Kubitschek.
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This room tells a little about the trajectory of the Villa-Lobos Museum. Mindinha transformed the Museum into the main place of memory for Villa-Lobos. Under his management, the institution developed a work of dissemination of the composer's work and Brazilian concert music.
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In this part of the exhibition, we present a timeline with the main events in the life and work of Villa-Lobos.
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Between 1965 and 1981, he organized twelve volumes of the book series "Presença de Villa-Lobos", which brings together statements from personalities who worked with the composer, texts by Villa-Lobos himself, as well as interviews and period reports.
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Here are presented the LPs with recordings from the Villa-Lobos Festival. Promoted by MVL since 1961, the event seeks to honor and publicize the work of its patron and Brazilian music. In this audio we hear Celso Woltzenlogel and Watson Clys presenting "Assobio a jato".
Capa do LP "Villa-Lobos" (1976) by Museu Villa-LobosMuseum Villa-Lobos
This is the cover of the LP of the Festival Villa-Lobos of 1976. In the audio we hear the recording of "Bachianas Brasileiras nº1", composed by Villa-Lobos and interpreted by the Association of Cellists of Brazil.
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In this space, visitors can interact and leave messages. Letters exchanged between Arminda and personalities in the cultural field are also presented.
Carta de Carlos Drummond de Andrade para Arminda Villa-Lobos (1972-12-18) by Carlos Drummond de AndradeMuseum Villa-Lobos
In this letter, for example, the poet Carlos Drummond de Andrade thanks Arminda for receiving two records, one of which registers the international guitar competition produced by the Villa-Lobos Museum in the early 1970s.
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In the garden of the Villa-Lobos Museum, the public can sit and relax. Musical presentations promoted by the MVL are held on stage.
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