The Phenomenon (1860-1875)

Abstract AT the end of his life, Ulysses S. Grant penned the memorable phrase, ‘I think I am a verb instead of a personal pronoun’.1 Isaac Albeniz2 was an adjective and a noun. The word albeniz comes from the Basque language3 and means skinny, slender, or thread-like; it can also mean short or clever, in a devious sort of way. As a noun, it translates as a thread, strand, or even an abundance of hay.4 By coincidence, all of the above adjectives applied to Albeniz in his early years, as he was thin, short, and exceedingly ingenious. Ironically, in adulthood he became rather corpulent and self-deprecatingly signed his letters ‘Saco’ (‘Sack’), ‘El Gordo’ (‘The Fat One’), or ‘Saco gordo’ (‘Fat Sack’), a play on the second syllable of his first name. The mature Albeniz was anything but albeniz, at least in the principal sense of the word!