José Gonzalo Zulaica better known by his pen name

Pen name

A pen name, nom de plume, or literary double, is a pseudonym adopted by an author. A pen name may be used to make the author's name more distinctive, to disguise his or her gender, to distance an author from some or all of his or her works, to protect the author from retribution for his or her...

 Aita Donostia (Father Donostia or Father San Sebastian, because he was a priest born in San Sebastian

San Sebastián

Donostia-San Sebastián is a city and municipality located in the north of Spain, in the coast of the Bay of Biscay and 20 km away from the French border. The city is the capital of Gipuzkoa, in the autonomous community of the Basque Country. The municipality’s population is 186,122 , and its...

, Donostia in the Basque language

Basque language

Basque is the ancestral language of the Basque people, who inhabit the Basque Country, a region spanning an area in northeastern Spain and southwestern France. It is spoken by 25.7% of Basques in all territories...

), was a Basque music

Basque music

The strict classification of Basque music remains a controversial issue, complicated in part by the growing diversification of such music, but by and large it is made in the Basque Country, it reflects traits related to that society/tradition and it is devised by people from the Basque...

ologist and composer.

From 1936 to 1943 he was in exile in France.

His most popular work is the Basque Preludes, a set of fifteen piano pieces inspired by Basque traditional music, arranged in a very romantic way, that reminds Robert Schumann's and Edvard Grieg's styles.

Selected discography

• Ahots eta pianorako musika (I) - Complete music for voice and piano
• Ahots eta pianorako musika (II)
• Ahots eta pianorako musika (III) Almudena Ortega, soprano & Josu Okiñena, piano NB001 2005
• Ahots eta pianorako musika (IV) Almudena Ortega, soprano & Josu Okiñena, piano NB002 2006