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. 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 post– World War II in Western art, most strongly with American visual arts in the 1960s and early 1970s. Prominent artists associated with minimalism include Do ...

aesthetics. This investment in minimalism led Aigui to name his band after the John Cage composition ''

4′33″ ''4′33″'' (pronounced "four minutes, thirty-three seconds" or just "four thirty-three") is a three-movement composition by American experimental composer John Cage. It was composed in 1952, for any instrument or combination of instruments, ...

'', 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 ''Country of the Deaf'' (russian: Страна глухих, Strana glukhikh) is a 1998 Russian crime film directed by Valery Todorovsky, loosely based on Renata Litvinova's novel ''To Own and Belong''. The film set in a fictional underworld of ...

'', which received the

Russian Guild of Film Critics The Russian Guild of Film Critics (russian: Гильдия киноведов и кинокритиков России) is a Russian organization of professional film critics, headquartered in Moscow. Beginning in 1998, the guild began conferrin ...

Award for Best Score; ''

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'', 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. History The award was established i ...

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 birds of ...

Award, and

Kinotavr Kinotavr (russian: Кинотавр), also known as the Sochi Open Russian Film Festival is 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 invasi ...

Award for Best Music, as well as the 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 hist ...

'', which was nominated for a

Cinema Eye Honors The Cinema Eye Honors are awards recognizing excellence in nonfiction or documentary filmmaking and include awards for the disciplines of directing, producing, cinematography and editing. The awards are presented each January in New York and have b ...

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 composers 21st-century composers Russian violinists 21st-century 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)