Francesco Zappa

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Francesco Zappa
Released November 1984

Players

• Performed by The Barking Pumpkin Digital Gratification Consort (Frank Zappa, conductor).
• Synclavier document encryption by David Ocker
• Engineered by Bob Stone and Mark Pinske
• Second engineer: Tom Ehle
• Cover painting: Donald Roller Wilson
• Collage: Gabrielle Raumberger
• Graphics: New Age Art

Tracks

1. Opus 1 - #1: 1st movement - Andante (03:31)
2. Opus 1 - #1: 2nd movement - Allegro Con Brio (01:28)
3. Opus 1 - #2: 1st movement - Andantino (02:14)
4. Opus 1 - #2: 2nd movement - Minuetto Grazioso (02:04)
5. Opus 1 - #3: 1st movement - Andantino (01:52)
6. Opus 1 - #3: 2nd movement - Presto (01:51)
7. Opus 1 - #4: 1st movement - Andante (02:20)
8. Opus 1 - #4: 2nd movement - Allegro (03:05)
9. Opus 1 - #5: 2nd movement - Minuetto Grazioso (02:29)
10. Opus 1 - #6: 1st movement - Largo (02:09)
11. Opus 1 - #6: 2nd movement - Minuet (02:03)
12. Opus 4 - #1: 1st movement - Andantino (02:48)
13. Opus 4 - #1: 2nd movement - Allegro Assai (02:02)
14. Opus 4 - #2: 2nd movement - Allegro Assai (01:20)
15. Opus 4 - #3: 1st movement - Andante (02:24)
16. Opus 4 - #3: 2nd movement - Tempo Di Minuetto (02:00)
17. Opus 4 - #4: 1st movement - Minuetto (02:10)

Background Information

The album's subtitle reads: "The Music Of Francesco Zappa (fl. 1763-1788). His First Digital Recording In Over 200 Years". Francesco Zappa was an obscure composer living in Milan.

He was a composer who flourished between 1766 and 1788. Nobody knows when he was born or when he died. He was a cello player from Milan and wrote mostly string trios. I found out about his music and located a bunch of it in the Berkeley Library and the Library of Congress. My assistant loaded it into the Synclavier and now we have a whole album of synthesized performances.

He was a contemporary of Mozart. It's kind of happy, Italian-sounding music. It's nice, and real melodic. It's interesting, too; he does a few strange things harmonically that seem to be slightly ahead of his time -- a few little weird things. Basically, it's typical of music of that period, except it doesn't sound typical when it comes out of the Synclavier.

Frank Zappa (Interview 1984)

[Grove's] entry reads:

Zappa, Francesco

(b Milan; fl 1763–88). Italian cellist and composer. The dedication of his six trios for two violins and bass (London, 1765) shows that he had given the Duke of York, the dedicatee, music lessons in Italy (the duke had been in Italy from late November 1763 to mid-1764). By 1767, the year of the duke’s death, he had entered his service as maestro di musica, as shown by the title-page of his trio sonatas op.2. He then apparently took up residence in The Hague as a music master. He was still there in 1788, according to the place and date of a manuscript Quartetto concertante (inD-Bsb). He had a reputation among his contemporaries as a virtuoso and he toured Germany in 1771, playing in Danzig and, on 22 September, in Frankfurt. According to Mendel, he made another concert tour of Germany in 1781 (though this may be an error for 1771).

Zappa’s writing is lyrical, but tends towards a seriousness of manner in which the galant elements are tempered by a Classical dignity. His works with obbligato cello demonstrate an easy familiarity with thumb position fingerings, slurred staccato bowings and idiomatic string crossing patterns.

Versions

ZFT #	Version #	# discs	Format	Catalog #	Release (YYYY-MM-DD)	Barcode (EAN-13)	Artwork	Comment
42	1.1 Original Stereo	1	LP	Barking Pumpkin ST-74202	1984-11-21			US edition.
		1	LP	EMI EJ2702561	1984?			UK edition.
		1	LP	EMI 1C 064-27 0256 1	1984?	5099927025611?		German edition.
		1	CD	Barking Pumpkin D2 74202	1992-04?	0013347420226		US edition.
		1	CD	Zappa CDZAP 48	?	5016583604820?		UK edition.
		1	CD	Intercord i.r.s. 970748				German edition.
		1	CD	Music Scene Incorporated MSI 80050	1992			Japanese edition.
	1.2 Slightly Better Master	1	CD	Rykodisc RCD 10546	1995-05-02	014431054624		US edition. Code 39: 049450. Matrix # IFPI 2U3Q WEA mfg. OLYPHANT ifpi L901 W6063 A4 P2 310546-2 01 M1S1
		1	CD	VideoArts VACK 5092	1995-07-26	4988112406896		Japanese edition.
		1	CD	VideoArts VACK 5227	1996-05-30?	4988112408272		Japanese edition.
		1	CD	VideoArts VACK 1254	2002-10-23	4988112413535		Japanese edition, mini-album papersleeve.