Fondo Leoncavallo

The Fondo Ruggero Leoncavallo is a monographic music archive which, since its foundation in 1990, preserves and cultivates the artistic heritage of the Italian composer Ruggero Leoncavallo (1857–1919).

As a documentation and research institute dedicated to Leoncavallo and his time, the Fondo belongs to the cultural patrimony of the Swiss Canton of Ticino, the region where Leoncavallo spent almost two decades of his life.

In addition to the Museo Leoncavallo in Brissago, which mainly houses memorabilia and objects from the composer’s estate, the Fondo Leoncavallo, located at the Cantonal Library in Locarno, primarily comprises written documents. Both the extent and the great variety of the materials make the Fondo the world’s most important collection of primary sources and documents of various kinds on Leoncavallo’s life and work.