AHJ, Vol. 7 No. 4, Winter 1980

Nicanor Zabaleta
by Jane Weidensaul
Nicanor Zabaleta was born 7 January 1907 at San
Sebastian, a Spanish town in the Basque region near
the French border. His parents, natives of the area,
provided the boy with a childhood that was not only
economically comfortable but also, in Zabaleta's
words, "peaceful and happy." His father, Pedro, was
an accomplished artist, decorator, and gilder who so
admired ancient civilization that he named his two
sons after historically famous figures: Nicanor for the
Biblical commander of the Syrian army and governor
of Judea in the second century, and Diogenes for the
Greek philosopher of pre-Christian times. Diogenes,
the older of the brothers, died in an accident after his
return to Spain following the Civil War.
Zabaleta' s interest in the harp was stimulated by an
old instrument in a local antique shop which was
subsequently bought for him by his father. He began
formal study at the age of eight with no prior
keyboard background, and states today with some
pride, "I have never played any other instrument."
San Sebastian in those days was the site of a
famous gambling casino and the home of sailing and
horse races; the standard of living of the townspeople
was high, and a fine orchestra was assembled for the
casino in the summers. The teacher of the Madrid
Conservatory, Vicenta Tormo de Calvo, was the harpist
of this orchestra, and Zabaleta studied with her
in the summer and Pilar Michelena in the winter,
subsequently passing all exams at the Madrid Conservatory
from which he graduated with highest honors
at the age of thirteen. During this time he also
began his orchestral career by performing, at the age
of eleven, in the pit at a Basque opera in his home
town. Zabaleta's last two years of study on Spanish
soil were conducted under Luisa Menarguez, a
teacher of enviable background who had taken first
prizes with Hasselmans at Paris and with Posse at
Berlin. (Incidentally, Menarguez was, in time, to become
the aunt of Marisa Robles.)
Until 1923 Zabaleta took commercial courses at
local schools in order to prepare himself for a career
in business, an idea he put aside as orchestral opportunities
developed for him in San Sebastian and
Madrid. The decision to pursue a harp career taken,
Zabaleta moved to Paris to complete his musical
education. At eighteen he was one year beyond the
age limit for the Conservatoire, so he studied harp for
nearly four years as a private student of Marcel Tournier,
harmony with Marcel Samuel-Rousseau (whom
he found "too commercial"), and counterpoint and
fugue with the Belgian Eugene Cools. His debut
Winter/1980
Nicanor Zabaleta with his wife, the former, Graciela Torres Alcaide.
concert was given in 1926 at the Salle du Conservatoire,
and the following year Zabaleta was heard at
the Salle Erard.
Success did not come quickly, however, and obligatory
military service lay before the harpist in
Spain. For nine months he served as a telegrapher in
the army, stationed near the nation's capital. In the
late 1920s he lived on his own resources for the first
time, playing in the Madrid municipal band, and
working as a free-lance musician for orchestra, opera,
and ballet performances.
Two competitions were given to determine the holder
of the post in harp at the Madrid Conservatory,
with Zabaleta as the principal challenger of his
teacher, Menarguez. The results of the first trial were
voided, and Menarguez was declared the winner of
the second contest: this was a major factor in
Zabaleta's decision to pursue his career in the New
World. He arrived in a depression-bound United
States to make his American debut on 5 July 1934 at
Lewisohn Stadium with an orchestra led by his
countryman, Jose lturbi, whom he had met in Madrid.
The concert, which was well received by public
and press, was repeated later at Philadelphia's Robin
Hood Dell. That summer he took a job at the Green
Mansions camp in the Adirondaks which provided
lodging in return for a solo recital weekly. The arrangement
was accepted by a number of distinguished
but economically deprived musicians in the
1930s and 1940s before the post-war economic recovery.
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