Statue of Pixinguinha

Alfredo da Rocha Vianna Filho is a name that not everyone recognizes. But everyone has heard of his nickname, Pixinguinha. He is widely regarded as the greatest figure in Brazilian music. The critic and historian Ary Vasconcelos put it succinctly: “If you have 15 volumes to cover all of Brazilian popular music, you can be sure it’s not enough. But if you only have space for a single word, don´t think twice – write ´Pixinguinha´.”

Pixinguinha Playing Saxophone. 1940, Pixinguinha Collection / Instituto Moreira Salles

Author of timeless classics such as Lamentos and Carinhoso, Pixinguinha inherited both his name and his musical vocation from his father, Alfredo Vianna. As a child, he would secretly listen to his father and fellow musicians playing, sneaking out of bed when he was supposed to be asleep. He grew up immersed in the musical scenes of the Piedade and Catumbi neighborhoods, surrounded by choro circles that his father and other seasoned players frequented.

At just fifteen years old, despite often being dismissed as “just a kid”, a remark he overheard more than once,  Pixinguinha already played very well. One day, the seasoned Antônio Maria Passos, flutist for Chiquinha Gonzaga’s prestigious ensemble and the principal of the Teatro Rio Branco orchestra, had to miss a few performances of the play Morreu o Neves. Tute, the guitarist for the production, who had seen Alfredo Vianna’s son playing beautifully, suggested the young boy as a replacement. Overcoming his shyness and insecurity during the audition, Pixinguinha not only met expectations but impressed the show’s directors and the audience, who packed the venue in “colossal floods,” according to the newspapers of the day.The audience, who had been expecting a light-hearted evening, were captivated by the choro trio’s performance, featuring the classic setup of guitar, cavaquinho, and flute. Pixinguinha’s loose, melodious style enchanted everyone, propelling him from a substitute to the principal flutist at the Teatro Rio Branco – much to the talented Antônio Maria Passos´ displeasure.

Pixinguinha at 25 years of age, in Paris, France. 1922, Instituto Moreira Salles. Pixinguinha collection

Pixinguinha quickly made a name for himself on Rio de Janeiro’s music scene, especially in the bohemian nightlife of Lapa. He performed in cabarets, cinemas, carnival ranchos, and revue theaters, and he played in groups known as “regionais” and iconic ensembles, including the Oito Batutas, which made history both in Brazil and abroad. He also worked as an arranger and conductor for radio stations and record labels.

Pixinguinha lived from 1897 to 1973, witnessing many of the transformations experienced by Brazil’s emerging cultural industry. He both witnessed and contributed to the birth of urban samba in Rio, forever changing the course of Brazilian popular music. For these reasons and more, Pixinguinha was honored with not one, but two bronze statues in Rio de Janeiro, which is unusual in the city. Despite serving the same purpose, to honor and remind passersby of the musician, the statues are quite distinct in their styles and stories.

On 23 April, 1996, a statue of Pixinguinha was unveiled on Rua do Ouvidor, in front of the site where the Gouveia bar once stood, a venue he frequented almost daily and where there was a plaque and a chair especially for the musician. The statue, standing 1.70 meters tall and weighing nearly 500 kilograms, was crafted in bronze by the sculptor Otto Dumovich. Positioned in a location that was iconic in Pixinguinha’s story, the statue depicts the musician in a visceral and passionate pose, dressed in a suit and hat, ready to play in the choro circles of Ouvidor, Lapa, and anywhere else where bohemian life thrived.

Donatas Dabravolskas/Wikimedia Commons 

Nearly two decades later, in 2016, a second statue in his honor was unveiled in front of the Bar da Portuguesa. However, this time, it was not a representation of Pixinguinha, the celebrated instrumentalist and composer, but Alfredo da Rocha Vianna Filho, resident of Ramos, in Rio’s North Zone, in his everyday persona, living his daily life in the neighborhood he loved. The artist and cartoonist Ique Woitschach, creator of the nearly 400 kg piece, describes the statue as a “cariscultura” (a mixture of caricature and sculpture). He sculpted Pixinguinha in a relaxed pose, wearing pajamas and slippers, sitting at a table just as he might have been seen in the days when he frequented the Bar da Portuguesa. In this spirit of “domestic bohemianism,” the statue creates a moment of intimacy between Pixinguinha and his neighborhood. The monument’s inauguration was marked by a celebration with plenty of music and the presence of the trombonist Zé da Velha, who played alongside Pixinguinha.

Photo: press office

In both of the monuments created in his honor, the famous phrase “I lived life to the full in the bohemian style” resonates.