Pepito was born to a liberal family of Ferrol, his mother was Josefa Rodríguez Carballeira and having no known father, his birth certificate has the family name of his mother, which she never used, naming the boy with the last name of his grandfather. After Josefa went to Madrid, his aunt Aurora took care of him and taught him to play piano.
Arriola"s remarkable ability was first discovered at the age of two and a half. The young musician, without any formal or informal instruction, began his career as a pianist, at times playing pieces he had heard and at other times creating original compositions. After his mother noticed the child’s abilities, she took him with her to Madrid and his career as a concert pianist began.
Arriola at the age of three, could read neither music nor written language and thus his process of composition was highly unconventional.
He would sometimes use a blank piece of paper, indicating the nature of the piece (sonata, waltz, etc) with a symbol at the top followed by arbitrary lines and notes which was the written music for the piece. Afterward, he is described as setting the paper down in front of him saying “I will play that” and proceeding to improvise remarkably well.
His pieces were described as having a “richness of astonishing expression” ranging from the tragic to the merry.
