Biography
Creator of five hundred compositions interpreted by Conjunto Farroupilha, Demônios da Garoa, Elis Regina, Elza Soares, Germano Matias, Carmélia Alves, Francisco Petrônio, Luís Vieira, Noite Ilustrada, and Caco Velho, Túlio Piva chose a quiet existence as a pharmacist in remote Rio Grande do Sul rather than pursue fame, preferring instead the role of devoted husband and father. Across his lifetime he issued just four albums. Beginning flute studies at age thirteen, he later mastered harmonica and guitar as well. He penned the samba “Tem Que Ter Mulata” in 1940; Norberto Baldaulf e Seu Conjunto, then among Rio Grande do Sul’s finest ensembles, cut the track in 1955, and a Spanish-language version appeared in Uruguay. The following year Conjunto Farroupilha committed his samba “Tem Que Ser” to disc. In 1968 Piva claimed victory at the II Festival Sul-Brasileiro da Canção Popular with “Pandeiro de Prata.” His final public appearance came in 1991 during the tribute concert Túlio Piva 75 Anos, mounted by Bando Barato pra Cachorro inside Porto Alegre’s Renascença theater. Two years afterward the Porto Alegre samba school Imperadores do Samba honored him by unveiling a samba-enredo drawn from his biography and catalog during that season’s Carnaval parade.
Albums