"Francesco Zappa" is a 1984 album by Frank Zappa, featuring synthesized arrangements of chamber music composed by Francesco Zappa, an Italian composer who lived between 1763 and 1788. The album showcases Frank Zappa’s reinterpretation of Francesco Zappa's works, utilizing the latest technology of the time, including the Synclavier synthesizer.
The origins of the album began when David Ocker played Frank Zappa a piece by Francesco Zappa that had gained popularity among some college music students. The fact that Francesco's music was not widely available—being unpublished and only found in a Mormon library—prompted Frank to take action. He decided to make the music more accessible by publishing it and, subsequently, programmed some of these pieces into his new Synclavier synthesizer.
Frank Zappa found an entry for Francesco Zappa in the Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians, which led him to further research the composer's sheet music at the UC Berkeley library. It’s worth noting that, contrary to what the name might suggest, the two Zappas are not related.
Francesco Zappa marked the first full album on which Frank Zappa extensively used the Synclavier, though pieces created with the instrument had already appeared on The Perfect Stranger earlier in 1984, as well as on Thing-Fish, another album released in the same year. This album highlights Frank Zappa's unique approach to blending classical music with cutting-edge electronic technology, resulting in a distinctive and innovative work.
