The greater part of his prodigious intelligence and energy were devoted to making works for the benefit of his nation. For this purpose, he created a piano technique, which is quite difficult to interpret even for those persons that are entirely devoted to this art.
Emilio worked endlessly for the creation and spread of his art. He extracted popular music and created a unique style only possible in the hands of a piano virtuoso.
Emilio Murillo Chapul was born in the city of Bogota in 1880. Since his youth he was quite impassioned by the musical rhythms of his land.
In the beginning, Murillo entered into the bohemian circles of the city capital. In that arena he surprised and wondered everyone with the prodigy and talent of his interpretation of the flute. A little while later he changed the flute for a piano and in 1908 founded the Murillo Student Institution.
Two years later, he tried to record Colombian Music in the United States, but unfortunately he was not successful. In 1910 he traveled as an officer of the Colombian delegation to Washington and this time he finally succeeded getting Victor and Colombia records to accept his music.
In these recordings he appeared as a piano and flute player. Murillo also appeared as a singer, played in the orchestra, and was the band director. He also made his first solo presentations playing the treble guitar.
His song titled La Morenita, was one of the first musical successes in Colombian pop music. Emilio revolutionized the typical sound of Colombian pop music and infused in own unique panache.
In 1920, he became member of the art embassy that represented Colombia in the city of Sevilla, Spain. Murillo also had a talent for journalism. He wrote in Colombian magazines Cromos and Mundo al Día and other national publications where in he wrote about the arts.
In his lifetime he composed more than eight hundred songs that are conserved in the Emilio Murillo Fund. Songs such as El Trapiche, ElAguatecano, and Canoita are the most distinguished among his works.
In 1935, he was awarded the Boyacá Cross. Emilio Murillo Chapul died August of 1942, in the city of Bogotá, Murillo.
