Ataulfo Argenta was born in November 1913 in a fishing village in northern Spain, where his father served as the railway master. Having studied music, he worked as a pianist for ten years, after which he enrolled in new studies in Kassel in 1941. Here he met Carl Schuricht, who encouraged him to pursue a career as a conductor. In 1945 he joined the Orquesta National, where he played piano, celesta and glockenspiel, and also founded the Ensemble Camara de Madrid. In 1947 he became principal conductor of the Orquesta National de Espana.