Figure 1.--Pepito Arriola was a Spanish child musical prodigy. He was playing the piano and composing his own music at age 3. He is pictured here at about 12-13 years of age, probably in 1908-09. This post card was dated September 1910, so we know the actual photograph was taken some time before that.

Pepito Arriola was a well-known Spanish child musical prodigy--Pepito Arriola. When only 2 1/2 years old his suprised mother found him merrily playing at the piano a pirce she had been playing. He had received no musical instruction, he had just listened and watch how sje played. He was playing the piano and composing his own music at age 3. He also became a master violinist.

Name

"Pepito" is the diminutive form of Pepe, which is a form of "José", which means Joseph in English. I believe that the family name Arriola is of Basque origin.

Parents

Pepito's mother was an artistic woman who played the piano.

Childhood

Child Prodigy

He have since learned that Pepito Arriola was a child musical prodigy. We find a web reference to "the precocious artist Pepito Arriola", but no details. Another brief note indicated that he was a child piano prodigy. One report indicated that at the International Congress of Psychology of Paris in August 21, 1900, a Ch. Richet, Academy of Medicine, presented to a general assembly, a 3 1/2 year old Spanish boy named Pepito Arriola who played and improvised piece of varied airs with very rich sonority on the piano. [Voir Revue Scientifique] airs.

Pepito's mother expalins when she first noted his musical talent. "The child was about 2 1/2 years old when I discovered for the first time, and by chance, his musical aptitudes. At that time, a musician friend sent me one of his compositions and I played it frequently on the piano. Apparently the child was paying attention, but I did not realize it. However, one morning I heard someone playing this piece with authority and accuracy. I wanted to know who was playing the piano in our home. I entered the room and there was my little boy playing the piece. He was sitting on a raised stool all alone. On seeing me, he started laughing and said " [Coconut?], mama." I believed that there was a true miracle." From this moment, Pepito started to play, without his mother giving him any lessons. Sometimes he played pieces he had heard and other times pieces he composed himself.

Pepito's first performance was on December 4, 1899. He was not yet 3 years old and played in front of a group of music critics and musicians. His next performance was on December 26 after Christmas and he had just turned 3 years old. He played at the Royal Palate of Madrid, in front of the King and the Queen-mother, six musical compositions that he had composed.

Pepito at age 3 could not yet read, either music or letters. He had no special talent for drawing. He did sometimes amuse himself by composing musical pieces. His compositions at age 3 did not have any direction. It was amusing to see him taking a piece of paper, to make at the head paper a griffonnage (which indicates the nature of the piece, sonata, or will habanera, or waltz, etc), then, below, to make blavl lines and notes. Afterwards he looks with satisfaction at this paper, sets at the piano, and says "I will play that" and indeed, having in front of the eyes this formless paper, he improvises in an astonishing way. [Alcan]

Ch. Richet writes, "To tell the truth, there is in him a narcotic, it is neither the touch, neither the harmony, nor the agility, but the expression. It has a richness of astonishing expression. That it is about a sad or merry piece, or martial, or energetic, the expression is seizing . Often even this expression is so strong, so tragic, in certain airs melancholic persons or funeral, which one has the feeling that Pepito cannot, with his imperfect touch, to express all the musical ideas which quiver in him: so that I would almost dare to say that he is a much larger musician than he does not appear to be it ..."

His musical abilities were astonishing. He can play pieces after hearing them played on the piano. He can also play pieces he had only heard sung. Richet writes, "It is wonder to then see him finding, imagining, reconstituting the agreements of low and the harmony, like a skilful musician.

Pepito not only played the piano, but became a master violonist. He astonished the musical world throughout Europe with his youthful talent. He played several great concerts in Leipzig and performed in the Russian capital of St. Petersburg. [Richet]

Clothing

The boy's outfit looks rather French. We have noted French boys wearing these bloomer knickers suits at various lengths. This one appears to be a sailor suit and the knickers are bloused below the knee. He appaers to be wearing shoes of leather and white canvas with white socks. He wears his hair longer than was common at the time. I am not sire if this was to give him a youthful or artistic image--perhaps both.

Adult Career

Reader Comment

A Spanish reader writes, "Es mas o menos la misma que me mandas, no se si la habras visto. Estoy pendiente de que llegue una revista antigua llamada ¨La Esfera¨ donde viene una entrevista con Pepito. De momento lo unico que sabia es que fue hijo de soltera, la madre se llamaba Josefa Rodriguez Carballeira, su madre lo dejo al cuidado de una tia en ferrol para irse a Madrid y esa tía fue la que lo ayudo en su carrera de pianista pero paso el tiempo y su madre lo reclamo, se fue a Madrid y ahi se pierde la pista. Su padrastro creo que fue un importante hombre asturiano o cantabro, un aventurero que acompaño a Pepito en sus conciertos por el mundo. De momento eso es lo que he averiguado, muy poco la verdad aunque ire ampliando. Un librero de aqui de ferrol dice que la historia de Pepito se ha ocultado porque hay cosas turbias en su vida como el asesinato de su prima (que tambien tocaba el piano) por su tia." This translates as, "It is the same as you sent me. I am not sure what you have seen. I am awaiting the receipt of an old magazine called "La Esfera¨ which has an interview with Pepito. At the moment, all that I know is that he was son of a single person, the mother was named Josefa Rodriguez Carballeira, his mother left him om the care of an aunt in [?ferrol] to go away to Madrid and that aunt was the one who helped him in his piano career and some time passed before his mothr reclainmed him. She went to Madrid and there lost contact. His [?padrastro] I believe was an important Asturian man or [?cantabro], an adventurer who accompanied to Pepito in its concerts around the world. At the moment that is what I have found out, actually very little but I am workig on it. A local bookseller of [?ferrol] says that the history of Pepito has been hidden because there are cloudy things in his life like the murder of his girl cousin (that also played the piano) by his aunt." -- Graciela Galdo

Sources

Alcan, F. "Compte-rendu officiel du Congrès de Psychologie", 1900, p. 93.

Galdo, Graciela. E-mail message, November 1, 2002.

Richet, Ch. Annales des Sciences psychiques, April 1908, page 98.

Voir Revue Scientifique, October 6, 1900, p. 432.

Created: October 18, 2002
Last updated: September 3, 2003