Zabaleta (Zala), Nicanor

Zabaleta (Zala), Nicanor, eminent Spanish har pist; b. San Sebastián, Jan. 7, 1907; d. San Juan, Puerto Rico, March 31, 1993. He studied harp with Vicenta Tormo de Calvo at the Madrid Cons, (graduated, 1920) and with Luisa Menárguez, then went to Paris and studied harp with Marcel Tournier and harmony, counterpoint, and fugue with Marcel Rousseau and Eugène Cools. In 1926 he made his Paris debut. On July 5, 1934, he made his N.Y. debut at the Lewisohn Stadium. In subsequent years, Zabaleta pursued a far-ranging concert career, appearing as a soloist with the world’s principal orchs., giving numerous recitals, and being active as a chamber music player. In 1956 he was awarded the Henriette Cohen Prize of England, in 1982 he received the Premio Nacional de Música of Spain, and in 1988 he became a member of the Real Academia de Bellas Artes de San Fernando in Madrid. Zabaleta was one of the foremost harpists of the 20^th century. His repertoire embraced works from the Baroque era to his own day. He brought to light various early MSS and ed. the vol. Spanische Meister des 16. und 17. Jahrhunderts (Mainz, 1985). His virtuoso performances of the harp literature of the 18^th and 19^th centuries were highly esteemed. He also did much to further the cause of contemporary harp music by commissioning works from many notable composers, among them Villa-Lobos, Rodrigo, Montsalvatge, Milhaud, Krenek, Piston, Hovhaness, and Farkas.

—Nicholas Slonimsky/Laura Kuhn/Dennis McIntire