[Russian Music] Belaieff [Belyayev], Mitrofan Petrovich. (1836 - 1903). Two Original Cabinet Photographs. Pair of rare original Russian cabinet photographs of the Imperial Russian music publisher and philanthropist, founder of the Belyayev circle, a society of musicians in Russia whose members included Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov, Alexander Glazunov and Anatoly Lyadov. 11 x 16.5 cm; 13 x 18 cm.


In 1885 Belyayev created the publishing house "M. P. Belaieff" in Leipzig to secure international copyright to Russian composers; until then, international copyright did not extend to music published in Russia. Eventually, he published over 2000 compositions by Russian composers, the first of which was Glazunov's Overture on Greek Themes. The works published there were edited to a high standard and the elaborate and expensively produced color lithograph title pages rapily became his trademark and are highly prized by collectors today.