Mitrofan Petrovich Belyayev

Mitrofan Belyayev ( Russian Митрофан Петрович Беляев * 10 ^{. Jul} / 22. February  1836 ^greg. In Saint Petersburg , † December 22, 1903 ^jul. / 4. January  1904 ^greg. ) Was a Russian music publisher and patron .

Mitrofan Petrovich Belyayev

Life

Beljajew was the son of a rich Russian timber merchant and large landowner and a Swedish mother. He established himself early on as a successful businessman in his father's company, which he took over at the age of 30. His - initially private - passion was music. Beljajew had learned violin, viola and piano in school and played the viola in a string quartet for many years. Later he became a member of the St. Petersburg Chamber Music Friends group and undertook musical journeys through Russia and abroad with the then leaders Lyadow and Borodin . a. to Bayreuth . Belyayev spoke several foreign languages, including German.

The initial spark for Belyayev's future, important role as a patron in Russian musical life was the encounter in 1882 with the highly gifted 17-year-old Alexander Glasunov , whose 1st symphony was premiered at the time. Belyayev's growing commitment to promoting Russian composers led to a gradual withdrawal from his activity as a timber merchant. In 1884 he became the founder of the “Glinka Prize”, which was awarded annually. In the first years Borodin, Balakirew , Tschaikowski , Rimsky-Korsakow , Cui and Lyadow were among the winners.

Founding of the publishing house

Belyayev, portrayed by Ilya Repin (1886)

In 1885 Beljajew founded the music publisher MP Belaieff in Leipzig . In the following decade, 1200 compositions were published by this publisher (the first publication was Glasunov's overture on three Greek themes ). The works published there were edited to a high standard of quality, the authors received higher fees than was usual at the time, and also retained full control over performance rights. In doing so, Belyayev made important contributions to the promotion and dissemination of Russian music. Initially, Belyayev decided on the selection of works alone, later he consulted with a jury made up of Rimsky-Korsakov, Lyadow and Glasunow. Not only composers from St. Petersburg were included in the publisher's program, but also more “western” composers from Moscow such as Taneyev and Scriabin .

Also in 1885 Belyayev initiated the “Russian Symphony Concerts” in Petersburg, and in 1891 the weekly “Quartet Fridays” (“Les Vendredis”) of his Belyayev group in his house . The composers sponsored by Belyayev made several musical contributions to the occasion, for example a joint string quartet composition by Rimsky-Korsakov, Borodin, Lyadow and Glasunow on the tone sequence B-La-F (baf) was created on his 50th birthday. In 1886 the important Russian painter Ilya Repin created a portrait of Belyayev.

literature

• AN Krjukow: Alexander Konstantinowitsch Glasunow. Verlag Neue Musik, Berlin 1988, ISBN 3-7333-0029-7 .
• S. Schibli: Alexander Scriabin and his music. Piper, Munich / Zurich 1983, ISBN 3-492-02759-8 .