Zappa's orchestral adventures

Though the name Zappa, for the most part, reminds us of a Rock and Roll star, slightly off his rocker, Zappa delved deep into the world of classical orchestration later in his life. Ironically, it was with songs like "Valley Girl" that made him the substantial amount of money required to hire such a large group of musicians and orchestrate such an immense project. But, nonetheless, he achieved his goal and some of his most memorable musical works are of the orchestral variety. Particularly, his recordings with the London Symphony Orchestra are of substantial quality.

Zappa, early in his career, realized that to attract audiences and to have any fighting chance in the music industry he needed to appeal to the popular crowd. And so, with this in mind, the world was introduced to such classics as Freak Out!, Absolutely Free, We're Only In It For The Money, Lumpy Gravy, and later albums such as Hot Rats, Apostrophe, and the list goes on. There are something like seventy albums within the Rock and Roll genre produced in his lifetime. So it would seem that Zappa was a Rock musician, bred through and through. But to listen to his early music, and then to his classical music (if classical is really what it should be called), the listener becomes aware of an undertone in all of his popular music which finally expresses its full potential with the London Symphony Orchestra. This undertone is compiled of the melodic and harmonic irregularities and experiments and, more importantly, the rhythmic variety and diversity of all of Zappa's music. Virtually every element of music: Melody, Harmony, Rhythm, and Timbre, go against the grain of the popular, consonant musical taste.

One element of Zappa's early music that is fully realized in his later orchestral works is Timbre. Lumpy Gravy, the concept album which interweaves some elements of orchestral arrangement with recording clips and voice-overs, is full of varying timbres. The entire album, front and back, paints a colorful musical landscape for the listener. The London Symphony Orchestra fulfilled this same effect live with the many instruments' quality of sound being tossed around endlessly. Zappa also threw in a couple of odd sound effects of his own creation, most of which their origin is difficult to discern.

Another element present in Zappa's earlier work which later manifests its full potential in his orchestral arrangements is, of course, his beautiful--yet disjointed melodies. Zappa has one of the most vivid, though, obscure musical visions of all twentieth century composer/musicians. Take for example the many interweaving melodies of "Peaches En Regalia". They are so obscure and original, yet when they come together in a whole piece, they sound almost like pop music. They are so rough when separated, but together they are consistent and gorgeous. In his London Symphony recordings, a similar effect is achieved, though on an even more obscure scale. The limitations within the orchestral symphonic medium are nearly non-existent, and it is obvious in the result of Zappa's scores that he has been itching to escape the conformity of rock music.

The third element present in Zappa's rock music which fully takes shape in his orchestral music is rhythm. Combined with his incredible melodic sense, the resulting orchestral product can only be compared to the likes of Stravinsky and, in my mind, Hector Berlioz:

(Watch from 3 min 25 sec)



The fantastic combination of the melody in the tuba's and baritones, later played at double the speed and in varying patterns, with the haunting melody creates an effect which can only be related to a select few modern day composers and arrangers. Frank Zappa, in my opinion, is one of them.

Other rhythmic components present in Zappa's early and later orchestral works include odd meters, such as 5/8, 7/8, etc, etc. Stravinsky had already laid the ground work which Zappa would introduce in his rock music, but would explore most prominently in his orchestral manuscripts:

(Watch from 3 min 5 sec)



And the last element present in Zappa's early works which fully bloom in his later works is harmony. His harmonic arrangements, though rusty and simplified in his rock and roll period, come into their own unique self, and create their own musical language within the context of the London Symphony Orchestra.