Francesco Zappa

Francesco Zappa (born in Milan, creative period 1763–1788) was an Italian cellist and composer. He is known for his virtuosic cello playing. Frank Zappa came across his music in the library at UC Berkeley and released an album featuring the chamber music of Francesco Zappa. It is, however, unknown if the two are related.

Life

Little is known about Zappa's life: what information is available comes largely from his own publications and manuscripts. Zappa was first employed by the Sicilian Count Catani, to whom he dedicated his first work, "6 Trio sonatas". He worked for the Duke of York, giving him music lessons during the Duke's stay in Italy, from November 1763 to the middle of 1764. When the Duke died in 1767, Zappa held the rank of "maestro di musica" (Kapellmeister), as the title page of his "Trio sonatas Opus 2" records.

In 1771 he played a series of concerts in Germany, visiting Danzig and, on 22 September, Frankfurt am Main. According to Mendel (1879), he undertook another tour of Germany in 1781, and with "his gentle and beautiful sound" inspired wonder in all who listened.

By the end of the 1780s Zappa was employed as master of music in The Hague ("Maître de musique à la Haye"), and this is noted in the 1788 manuscript of his "Quartetto concertante".

Musical Output

Zappa composed symphonies, trios, sonatas, divertimenti and songs, but nothing more of his output has been transmitted.

1984 brought "His First Digital Recording in over 200 Years," as Frank Zappa performed Francesco Zappa's "Opus 1" and "Opus 4" on Synclavier and released the resulting album on CD and LP.

Works

*Duets:
**6 Sonatas for keyboard/harpsichord, as Opus 4a (Paris, n.d.)
**6 Duos (violin, cello/2 violins) (Paris, n.d.)
**Duo for 2 cellos, Ms., m. 5740, "Sammlung Hausbibliothek"

*Trio sonatas, 2 violins and bass:
**6 Trios (London, 1765), as Opus 1 (The Hague, n.d.)
**6 Trios as Opus 2 (London, ca. 1767)
**6 Trios as Opus 3 (Paris, n.d.)
**6 Trios as Opus 4 (London, n.d.)
**"6 Sonates à deux Violons & Basse", (The Hague, n.d.), "Sammlung Thulemeyer"

*Other Works:
**6 Keyboard Sonatas, Opus 6 (Paris 1776), mentioned by Mendel (1879)
**6 Symphonies (Paris, n.d.)
**2 Romances, 1 violin, piano, as Opus 4 (The Hague, n.d.)
**2 Romances, 1 violin (The Hague)
**Sonata for cello, Mus. ms. 23490, Berlin "Stiftung Preußischer Kulturbesitz"
**"Sinfonia con Violoncello obbligato" No. 1 for 2 violins, viola, violoncello obbligato, 2 oboes, 2 horns, Ms., m. 5737, "Sammlung Hausbibliothek"
**"Quartetto Concertante" for 2 violins, viola, cello, "composta all Aya li 8 Liuglio 1788"," Ms. m. 5740, "Sammlung Hausbibliothek"
**27 Pieces, 2 for piano, 5 for 1 violin, piano, as Opus 11 (The Hague, n.d.)
**2 "Sonata à tre" for violin, violoncello obbligato, bass, in "Early Cello Series", xxiii (London, 1983)
**Other works: Vienna "Gesellschaft der Musikfreunde", Bad Schwalbach "Evangelisches Pfarrarchiv", Milan "Conservatorio di Musica Giuseppe Verdi"

References

*Karl-Heinz Köhler. "Francesco Zappa" in Friedrich Blume (ed.). "Die Musik in Geschichte und Gegenwart" (Kassel, Basel "et. al." 1968), Band 14
*H. Mendel & A. Reissmann, (eds.). "Musikalisches Conversations-Lexikon" (Berlin, 1870-79), Band 11, 1879)
*David Ocker. "The Musical Times of Francesco Zappa," liner notes from the album "Francesco Zappa", Barking Pumpkin Records, 1984
*Guido Salvetti & Valerie Walden in Stanley Sadie, (ed.). "The New Grove Dictionary Of Music & Musicians" (London, New York, Massachusetts 2001), 2nd. ed., ISBN:1-56159-239-0
*E. van der Straeten. "The History of the Violoncello" (London, 1915/R1971), quoted by Köhler (1968)

External links

* [http://wiki.killuglyradio.com/index.php/Francesco_Zappa Francesco Zappa page at the Zappa Wiki Jawaka]