This was an area thought for sharing leisure time with relatives, friends and guests. Having an informal conversation, listening to music and reading after lunch or dinner were some of the activities that took place in this room. The comfortable armchairs, coal fireplace and warm lighting were typical of this kind of space, which could be found in many upper-class houses in Uruguay at the beginning of the twentieth century. Two large portraits of Matilde Pacheco and José Batlle y Ordóñez, signed by Italian artist E. Ravetta, are featured in this room.
The main highlight of this room is the German grand piano, manufactured by C. Bechstein. Like many girls from her social class, Ana Amalia Batlle Pacheco, the youngest daughter of José and Matilde, took piano lessons with a private teacher in this very instrument. The strong bond between Ana Amalia and the piano may be confirmed by one account claiming that her body was mourned on it when she died at 18, in 1913.
The music scores practised and played by Ana Amalia are kept in the Musicology section of the Museo Histórico Nacional. Several piano lesson books can be found in the collection, along with classical European composers such as Johann Strauss and Georg Friedrich Händel. A piano arrangement for Tabaré, the epic poem from Juan Zorrilla de San Martín, composed by Uruguayan musician Alfonso Broqua, with his handwritten signature and dedication to Ana Amalia, is one of the valuable items in this collection.
A mandolin, a string instrument from Italy, is displayed in one of the showcases in this room. This instrument was widely played among Italian immigrants, whose role in the development of the Piedras Blancas area is well documented.
Yet another music-related item can be found in this room: the Victrola. It consists of a large wooden case with a top lid which can be lifted in order to play record albums. The Victrola is fitted with several doors and compartments that are opened to adjust sound volume and quality.
Traducción español a inglés: Lic. Carolina Luongo
