Arriola, Pepito (18961954)
A Spanish musical prodigy who, in 1900, at the age of three
years and three months, was introduced by Charles Richet to
the International Psychical Congress. Arriola had only begun
playing the piano a year earlier. With his tiny hands, which appeared
to grow while he played, he somehow managed to
sound full octaves.
He also composed military and funeral marches, waltzes,
minuets, and habaneras and played some 20 difficult pieces
from memory. At the time, there was no suggestion of a Spiritualist
explanation for this phenomena, but 11 years later the boy
exhibited the gift of automatic writing. (See also Rosemary
Brown; Music (Paranormal); Jesse Shepard)
