Leoncavallo Sheet Music

Leoncavallo Sheet Music and Biography

_{Ruggero Leoncavallo
23 Apr 1857-9 Aug 1919}

Ruggero Leoncavallo was an Italian composer of opera and a librettist for most of his operas. He was considered by some to be the best librettist of his time after Arrigo Boito.

Try out our Ruggero Leoncavallo sheet music Mattinata for voice and guitar.

His ultimate fame lies in his opera ‘Pagliacci’, despite writing many others.

Early Life

Leoncavallo was born in Naples on 23rd April 1857. His father was a police officer and magistrate. The family moved away from Naples and returned when Ruggero went to school. On leaving school he went to study at the University of Bologna to study literature.

Career

Leoncavallo then went to Naples Conservatory. He supported himself by playing the piano in cafes and giving concerts in addition to providing singing lessons.

His initial operas failed to gain any attraction or popularity. Then he published ‘Pagliacci’ in Milan in 1892 and received immediate success. Sadly his later operas never matched this success.

Pagliacci lies among the most favoured and regularly performed operas within the operatic repertory.

His other works include the song Mattinata which Italian operatic tenor Enrico Caruso helped to make popular. Leoncavallo wrote this song for the Grammarphone company which later became known as HMV.

Ruggero earned public recognition in 1897 in Venice for La Bohème. Unfortunately his work was outshone by Giacomo Puccini’s opera of the same name which was premiered a year earlier.

Later Years

Leoncavallo died in on 9th August 1919. Hundreds of people attended his funeral including his rival Puccini.