Francesco Zappa is a 1984 album by Frank Zappa

Frank Zappa

Frank Vincent Zappa was an American composer, singer-songwriter, electric guitarist, record producer and film director. In a career spanning more than 30 years, Zappa wrote rock, jazz, orchestral and musique concrète works. He also directed feature-length films and music videos, and designed...

. It features chamber music

Chamber music

Chamber music is a form of classical music, written for a small group of instruments which traditionally could be accommodated in a palace chamber. Most broadly, it includes any art music that is performed by a small number of performers with one performer to a part...

 by the Italian

Italian people

The Italian people are an ethnic group that share a common Italian culture, ancestry and speak the Italian language as a mother tongue. Within Italy, Italians are defined by citizenship, regardless of ancestry or country of residence , and are distinguished from people...

 composer Francesco Zappa

Francesco Zappa

Francesco Zappa was an Italian cellist and composer. He is known for his virtuoso cello playing.-Life:...

, who composed between 1763 and 1788. David Ocker played a piece of Francesco Zappa's music for Frank Zappa because it was popular with some college music students. Because Francesco Zappa's music was not published and could only be found in the Mormon library, Frank Zappa decided to publish it. He then decided to program some of these pieces into his new Synclavier

Synclavier

The Synclavier System was an early digital synthesizer, polyphonic digital sampling system, and music workstation, manufactured by New England Digital Corporation, Norwich, VT. The original design and development of the Synclavier prototype occurred at Dartmouth College with the collaboration of...

 synthesizer

Synthesizer

A synthesizer is an electronic instrument capable of producing sounds by generating electrical signals of different frequencies. These electrical signals are played through a loudspeaker or set of headphones...

.

Frank Zappa found an entry for him in the Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians

Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians

The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians is an encyclopedic dictionary of music and musicians. Along with the German-language Musik in Geschichte und Gegenwart, it is the largest single reference work on Western music. The dictionary has gone through several editions since the 19th century...

 and then researched his sheet music in the library at UC Berkeley

University of California, Berkeley

The University of California, Berkeley , is a teaching and research university established in 1868 and located in Berkeley, California, USA...

. The two musicians are not related.

Francesco Zappa was the first album that Frank Zappa used the Synclavier

Synclavier

The Synclavier System was an early digital synthesizer, polyphonic digital sampling system, and music workstation, manufactured by New England Digital Corporation, Norwich, VT. The original design and development of the Synclavier prototype occurred at Dartmouth College with the collaboration of...

 on, but it was not the first one he released, as synclavier pieces performed by him appear on "The Perfect Stranger

Boulez Conducts Zappa: The Perfect Stranger

Boulez Conducts Zappa: The Perfect Stranger is a 1984 album featuring the music of Frank Zappa, conducted, in part, by Pierre Boulez. It is also known as, simply, The Perfect Stranger...

" and on "Thing-Fish

Thing-Fish

-1995 Rykodisc CD Release:- Cast :*Thing-Fish—Ike Willis*Harry—Terry Bozzio*Rhonda—Dale Bozzio*The Evil Prince—Napoleon Murphy Brock*Harry-As-A-Boy—Bob Harris*Brown Moses—Johnny "Guitar" Watson*Owl-Gonkwin-Jane Cowhoon—Ray White- Musicians :...

" as well.

Track listing

All selections composed by Francesco Zappa and performed by Frank Zappa on the Synclavier

Synclavier

The Synclavier System was an early digital synthesizer, polyphonic digital sampling system, and music workstation, manufactured by New England Digital Corporation, Norwich, VT. The original design and development of the Synclavier prototype occurred at Dartmouth College with the collaboration of...

.

Side one

1. "Opus I: No. 1 First Movement: Andante" – 3:32
2. "No. 1 2nd Movement: Allegro con brio" – 1:27
3. "No. 2 1st Movement: Andantino" – 2:14
4. "No. 2 2nd Movement: Minuetto grazioso" – 2:04
5. "No. 3 1st Movement: Andantino" – 1:52
6. "No. 3 2nd Movement: Presto" – 1:50
7. "No. 4 1st Movement: Andante" – 2:20
8. "No. 4 2nd Movement: Allegro" – 3:04
9. "No. 5 2nd Movement: Minuetto grazioso" – 2:29
10. "No. 6 1st Movement: Largo" – 2:08
11. "No. 6 2nd Movement: Minuet" – 2:03

Side two

1. "Opus IV: No. 1 1st Movement: Andantino" – 2:47
2. "No. 1 2nd Movement: Allegro assai" – 2:02
3. "No. 2 2nd Movement: Allegro assai" – 1:20
4. "No. 3 1st Movement: Andante" – 2:24
5. "No. 3 2nd Movement: Tempo di minuetto" – 2:00
6. "No. 4 1st Movement: Minuetto" – 2:10

External links

• Album details
• Release information