Aleksey Aygi (stylized as Alexei Aigui, born 11 July 1971) is a Russian composer, violinist, and leader of the 4'33" Ensemble.

Biography and career

Aigui is ethnically Chuvash and the son of Chuvash national poet

Gennadiy Aygi Gennadiy Nikolayevich Aygi ( rus, Генна́дий Никола́евич Айги́, p=ɡʲɪˈnadʲɪj nʲɪkɐˈlajɪvʲɪtɕ ɐjˈɡʲi, a=Gyennadiy Nikolayevich Aygi.ru.vorb.oga, ; 21 August 1934 – 21 February 2006) was a Russian ...

. A graduate of Moscow's State Music and Pedagogical Institute, Aigui's work has been noted for its

minimalist In visual arts, music, and other media, minimalism is an art movement that began in the post-war era in western art. The movement is often interpreted as a reaction to abstract expressionism and modernism; it anticipated contemporary post-mi ...

aesthetics. This investment in minimalism led Aigui to name his band after the

John Cage John Milton Cage Jr. (September 5, 1912 – August 12, 1992) was an American composer and music theorist. A pioneer of indeterminacy in music, electroacoustic music, and Extended technique, non-standard use of musical instruments, Cage was one ...

composition ''

4′33″ ''4′33″'' is a Modernism (music), modernist composition by American experimental music, experimental composer John Cage. It was composed in 1952 for any instrument or combination of instruments; the score instructs performers not to play t ...

'', the score for which instructs performers to refrain from playing their instruments. In 1994, Aigui debuted his 4'33" Ensemble at the Moscow International Festival of Modern Music, with another early performance taking place at the 1996 "European Days in Samara" festival. Aigui is a prolific composer who has scored dozens of films and television programs, including '' Country of the Deaf'', which received the

Russian Guild of Film Critics The Russian Guild of Film Critics () is a Russian organization of professional film critics, headquartered in Moscow. Beginning in 1998, the guild began conferring annual awards in several categories. The awards were called the "Golden Ram" or ...

Award for Best Score; '' Wild Field'', which received a

Nika Award The Nika Award (sometimes styled NIKA Award) is the main annual national film award in Russia, presented by the Russian Academy of Cinema Arts and Science, and seen as the national equivalent of the Oscars. In 2022 nominees were announced, b ...

Golden Eagle The golden eagle (''Aquila chrysaetos'') is a bird of prey living in the Northern Hemisphere. It is the most widely distributed species of eagle. Like all eagles, it belongs to the family Accipitridae. They are one of the best-known bird of pr ...

Award, and

Kinotavr Kinotavr (), also known as the Sochi Open Russian Film Festival was an open film festival held in the resort city of Sochi, Russia annually in June since 1991, until it was cancelled in the wake of the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine.White Elephant Award for Best Composer; and the widely-acclaimed ''

I Am Not Your Negro ''I Am Not Your Negro'' is a 2016 documentary film and social critique film essay directed by Raoul Peck, based on James Baldwin's unfinished manuscript '' Remember This House''. Narrated by actor Samuel L. Jackson, the film explores the his ...

'', which was nominated for a Cinema Eye Honors Award for Outstanding Achievement in Original Music Score.

Discography

Leader or co-leader

with Ensemble 4'33"

Selected filmography

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Aigui, Alexei 20th-century Russian composers 21st-century Russian composers 21st-century Russian violinists Recipients of the Nika Award 1971 births Academicians of the National Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences of Russia Russian film score composers 21st-century Russian male musicians 20th-century Russian male musicians Living people Place of birth missing (living people)