In his first album Frank Zappa already formulated his ambition to become an important
composer. And not only did he succeed in becoming a unique musical icon but also in developing
an unmistakeable style in compositions for large orchestras or for The Yellow Shark project.
But where exactly in the vast field of New Music of the 20th century do we encounter the
composer Frank Zappa and who else do we happen upon in his works besides the omnipresent Edgard
Varèse? Was John Cage no more than a whimsical mushroom picker for him and Karlheinz
Stockhausen already in a helicopter off to Sirius? Or have Pierre Boulez' serialism or Conlon
Nancarrow's punched holes left more dots on the map of Zappa's musical cosmos? What was
conventional about Zappa's music and what was innovative? And did Zappa really refuse to die?
