The recordings were sourced from performances recorded September 17–19, 1975 at Royce Hall on the UCLA campus with conductor Michael Zearott. There were two nights of live concert performances and an additional day of recording sessions without the audience. The 2012 re-issue adds recordings from the "live" concerts. However, the original release is not a "live album". It contains studio recording sessions without the audience.

Strictly Genteel was heard earlier as part of the 200 Motels film and soundtrack album in 1971. Bogus Pomp is also made up of themes that were used in 200 Motels. The album contains a new arrangement of Duke of Prunes, originally on the 1967 album Absolutely Free. There are no overdubs on the album other than Zappa's electric guitar solo, which he later added to this track.^[3] According to Zappa, he funded the entire production cost of about $200,000 from his own pocket.^[4]

An early version of the album titled Six Things was cut as a demo acetate disc at Kendun Recorders in Burbank, California, in April 1976. Zappa played a demo disc of an unreleased orchestral album for journalist Barry Miles,^[5] and for BLAST magazine.^[6] This was a different edit which included Re-Gyptian Strut and Music For Guitar & Low Budget Orch, which were later cut from the album.^[7] The same year Zappa negotiated a distribution deal for an orchestral album with Columbia Masterworks, but the deal fell through when Columbia did not agree to Zappa's terms.^[8]

In May 1976 Zappa's relationship with manager and business partner Herb Cohen ended in litigation. Zappa and Cohen's company DiscReet Records was distributed by Warner Bros. Records. At this point Zappa was still contracted to deliver four more albums to Warner for release on DiscReet.

In March 1977 Zappa delivered master tapes for all four albums to Warner to fulfill this contract.^[4] Zappa did not receive payment from Warner upon delivery of the tapes, which was a contract violation.^[3] In a 1978 radio interview Zappa listed the four albums delivered to Warner and called this album by the title Zappa Orchestral Favorites.^[9]

During a long legal battle Warner eventually released four Zappa albums on DiscReet during 1978 and 1979: Zappa In New York, Studio Tan, Sleep Dirt and Orchestral Favorites. (Since Zappa In New York was configured as a two-LP set, the complete four individual album collection actually contains a total of five full-length LPs.)

Much of the material from these four albums was also edited by Zappa into a four-LP box set called Läther. Zappa announced this album in a mid September 1977 interview where he described it as his "current album".^[10] Three tracks from Orchestral Favorites also were included in Läther: "Pedro's Dowry", "Naval Aviation in Art?", and "Duke of Prunes" (titled there as "The Duke of Orchestral Prunes".)

Zappa negotiated a distribution deal with Phonogram Inc. to release Läther as the first release on the Zappa Records label. The album was scheduled for a Halloween October 31, 1977 release date. But Warner claimed ownership of the material and threatened legal action, forcing Zappa to shelve the project.^[11]

As Zappa had delivered only the tapes to Warner, Orchestral Favorites was released in May 1979 with no musician or music publishing credits.^[12] Warner also commissioned sleeve art by cartoonist Gary Panter, which was not approved by Zappa. The album went out of print when the Warner/DiscReet distribution agreement ended in 1982.

Zappa chose to issue Orchestral Favorites on Compact Disc on his Barking Pumpkin label in 1991 with Panter's original artwork and added credits. This edition has the stereo orientation of the left and right channels switched from the original release. This CD was reissued in 1995 by Rykodisc and at that time Panter provided additional art.

The Läther album was released on CD in 1996 after Zappa's death.

In 2012 Orchestral Favorites was reissued by the Zappa Records label. Despite new packaging the content is the same as previous CD releases. The 40th Anniversary Edition, released in 2019 uses the original stereo orientation as the 1979 LP. This version also contains two discs of previously unreleased bonus material from the 1975 live concerts.

The Gazette wrote that "the big arrangements here are in an imaginative melding of 20th century classical music such as Stravinsky, the wacky kitchen sink music of Spike Jones and the electric entanglements of Jimi Hendrix."^[16]

All tracks written, composed and arranged by Frank Zappa.

40th Anniversary Track Listing edit

• Frank Zappa – guitar, vocals
• Ian Underwood, Mike Lang & Ralph Grierson – keyboards
• Bill Mays – Clavinet
• Dave Parlato – bass
• Terry Bozzio – drums
• Emil Richards, Alan Estes, John Bergamo & Tom Raney – percussion
• Mike Altschul – flute and clarinet
• Malcolm McNab, Gene Goe & Roy Poper – trumpet
• Bruce Fowler, Jock Ellis & Kenny Shroyer – trombone
• Dana Hughes – bass trombone
• Don Waldrop – tuba & contrabass trombone
• Dave Shostac – flute, tenor sax
• Gary Foster – 2nd flute (and doubles)
• Ray Reed – flute, alto sax
• Vic Morosco – clarinet, alto sax
• Jay Migliori – clarinet, tenor sax
• Mike Altschul – bass clarinet, baritone sax
• Earle Dumler – oboe, English horn, bass oboe
• John Winter – oboe, English horn
• David Scherr – 2nd oboe, tenor sax
• Joann Caldwell – bassoon
• Bobby Tricarico – bassoon, contrabassoon
• David Duke, Arthur Briegleb, Todd Miller & Bob Henderson – French horn
• Tommy Morgan – harmonica (on "Duke Of Prunes")
• John Wittenberg & Bobby Dubow – violin
• Pamela Goldsmith – viola
• Jerry Kessler – cello
• Lou Anne Neill – harp
• Michael Zearott – conductor

Album – Billboard (United States)