Russian Music Publishing Business: From Commerce to Philanthropy

In the history of Russian music publi­shing business, there are some areas that require a further study of extensive factual material in terms of succession of times and generations, traditions and experience, individual and common. The process of Russian music publishing formation resul­ted in a unique thought-creating space, which united in a single whole the spiritual and the material, commerce and philanthropy. The economic side of the issue in this case is the most indicative, demonstrating the various analytical perspectives, which create an idea of the mechanisms of entrepreneurial activity in the market of production and marketing of non-printed products, the problems of innovative approach in the field of improving production capacity, the emergence of a whole galaxy of merchants-patrons-educators.

Hence, “homo musicus” and “homo financicus” are outstanding representatives of the Russian music publishing business, which opens the prospect of studying personal profiles in the history of philanthropy and charity and creates prerequisites for understanding the unity of financial, economic and artistic spheres. The article aims to study the professional features that allow to determine the genesis of commercial and creative in the most successful music publi­shing business projects implemented in the second half of the 19th century. Of particular interest are the famous names, specifically, M.P. Belyaev, who was a symbol of high service to the musical art. Promoting the works of young Russian composers, providing them with all-round assistance and support, M.P. Belyaev became the first “musical missionary” and educator. His financial activity was deeply patriotic and connected with high spiritual ideals of service to society.

These grounds can be used for further study of Russian music publishing business, philanthropy and charity in their inseparable interconnection.

1. Findeizen N.F. Ocherki po istorii muzyki v Rossii s drevneishikh vremen do kontsa XVIII veka [Essays on the History of Music in Russia from Ancient Times to the End of the 18th Century], in 2 vol., vol. 2, issue VI. Moscow, Leningrad, Muzykal’nyi Sektor Publ., 1929, 359 p.

2. Kunin M.E. Iz istorii notopechataniya: Kratkie ocherki [From the History of Music Printing: Short Essays]. Moscow, Sovetskii Kompozitor Publ., 1963, 78 p.

3. Volman B.L. Russkie pechatnye noty XVIII veka [Russian Printed Music of the 18th Century]. Leningrad, Gosudarstvennoe Muzykal’noe Publ., 1957, 293 p.

4. Esipova V.A. Istoriya knigi: uchebnik po kursu “Istoriya knizhnogo dela” [The History of Book: Textbook on the “History of Book Publishing” Course]. Tomsk, Tomskogo Universiteta Publ., 2011, 628 p.

5. Yurgenson B.P. Ocherk istorii notopechataniya [An Essay on the History of Music Printing]. Moscow, Muzykal’nyi Sektor Publ., 1928, 192 p.

6. Purtov F.E. Nemetskie notoizdateli Sankt-Peterburga kontsa XVIII — pervoi chetverti XIX veka [German Music Publishers of Saint Petersburg of the Late 18th — First Quarter of the 19th Century], cand. art stud. diss. abstr. St. Petersburg, 2000, 26 p.

7. Gurevich M.M., Berkov P.N. A Useful Book on the History of Russian Music Printing of the 18th Century, XVIII vek [18th Century], 1958, vol. 3, pp. 559—561 (in Russ.).

8. Petipa M. “Memuary” i dokumenty [“Memoirs” and Documents]. Moscow, Gosudarstvennyi Tsentral’nyi Teatral’nyi Muzei im. A.A. Bakhrushina Publ., 2018, 222 p.

9. Lisovsky N.M. Kratkii ocherk stoletnei deyatel’nosti tipografii Glazunovykh v svyazi s razvitiem ikh knigoizdatel’stva. 1803—1903: s prilozheniem portretov i snimkov, a takzhe spiska izdanii, vyshedshikh iz tipografii za sto let ee sushchestvovaniya [A Brief Essay of the Hundred-Year Activity of the Glazunovs Printing House in Connection with the Development of their Book Publishing. 1803—1903: With Attached Portraits and Photographs, as well as a List of Publications Issued by the Printing House for a Hundred Years of its Existence]. St-Petersburg, Glazunov Printing House, 1903, 210 p. Available at: http://oldcancer.narod.ru/books/Lisovsky.htm (accessed 13.02.2019).

10. Purtov F.E. On the Issue of Copyright Establishment in the Music Publishing of Russia, Notnye izdaniya v muzykal’noi zhizni Rossii: sbornik istochnikovedcheskikh trudov. Vyp. 2: Rossiiskie notnye izdaniya XVIII — nachala XX v. [Music Publications in the Musical Life of Russia: collected papers on source studies. Issue 2: the Russian Musical Publications of the 18th — Beginning of the 20th Century]. St. Petersburg, Rossiiskoi Natsional’noi Biblioteki Publ., 2003, pp. 8—13 (in Russ.).

11. Shalyapin F.I. Maska i dusha. Moi sorok let na teatrakh [Mask and Soul. My Forty Years on the Theaters]. Moscow, Moskovskii Rabochii Publ., 1989, 382 p.

12. Lomtev D.G. First German Music Publishers in Russia, Izvestiya vysshikh uchebnykh zavedenii. Problemy poligrafii i izdatel’skogo dela [Proceedings of Higher Educational Institutions. Problems of Printing and Publishing]. Moscow, Moskovskii Gosudarstvennyi Universitet Pechati im. Ivana Fedorova Publ., 2009, no. 5, pp. 092—099 (in Russ.).

13. Kuzyakina T.I. Muzyka kak faktor stanovleniya dukhovnogo mira cheloveka: (na materiale evropeiskoi muzykal’noi kul’tury) [Music as a Factor of a Person’s Spiritual World Formation: (On the Material of European Musical Culture)], cand. culturology diss. abstr. Kemerovo, 2012, 24 p.

14. Stolpyansky P.N. Muzyka i muzitsirovanie v starom Peterburge [Music and Music Making in Old Petersburg]. Leningrad, Muzyka Publ., 1989, 223 p.

15. Glagolev A.A. Economic Philosophy of the Great Russian Patrons of the Late 19th —Early 20th Centuries, Voprosy ekonomiki [Issues of Economics], 1994, no. 7, pp. 109—121 (in Russ.).

16. Ponyatovsky S.P. Orkestr Sergeya Kusevitskogo [Serge Koussevitzky’s Orchestra]. Moscow, Muzyka Publ., 2008, 253 p.

17. Trainin V.Ya. M.P. Belyaev i ego kruzhok [M.P. Belyaev and his Circle]. Leningrad, Muzyka Publ., 1975, 128 p.

18. Lukonin D.E. Mitrofan Belyaev and his Circle: A Patron’s Whim or an Art Direction? Izvestiya Saratovskogo universiteta. Novaya seriya. Seriya: Istoriya. Mezhdunarodnye otnosheniya [Proceedings of the Saratov University. New Series. Series: History. International Relations], 2007, vol. 7, no. 2, pp. 80—85 (in Russ.).

19. Stasov V.V. Izbrannye sochineniya: v 3 t. [Selected Works: in 3 volumes]. Moscow, Iskusstvo Publ., 1952, vol. 3, 888 p.