Alexei Aigui

Aleksey Aygi (stylized as Alexei Aigui, born 11 July 1971) is a Russian composer, violinist, and leader of the 4'33" Ensemble.^[1]

Alexei Aigui
Alexei Aigui in 2021
Background information
Born	(1971-07-11) 11 July 1971 (age 53)
Origin	Russia
Genres	minimalist music
Occupation(s)	musician, composer
Instrument	violin
Years active	1994–present
Labels	SoLyd, Music Box, Lakeshore, Leo Records
Member of	4'33" Ensemble
Website	www.facebook.com/AlexeiAiguimusic/

Biography and career

Aleksey Aygi in 2010

Aigui is ethnically Chuvash and the son of Chuvash national poet Gennadiy Aygi.^[2]

A graduate of Moscow's State Music and Pedagogical Institute,^[3] Aigui's work has been noted for its minimalist aesthetics. This investment in minimalism led Aigui to name his band after the John Cage composition 4′33″, 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,^[4] 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 Award for Best Score;^[5] Wild Field, which received a Nika Award,^[6] Golden Eagle Award,^[7] and Kinotavr Award for Best Music, as well as the White Elephant Award for Best Composer; and the widely-acclaimed I Am Not Your Negro, which was nominated for a Cinema Eye Honors Award for Outstanding Achievement in Original Music Score.^[8]

Discography

Leader or co-leader

Release year	Title	Label	Notes
2001	Musique Cyrillique	SoLyd	with Pierre Bastien
2002	Aigui & Bonnen Play the Music of Jimi Hendrix: Up From The Skies	SoLyd	with Dietmar Bonnen
2003	Aigui & Bonnen Play The Music Of Frank Zappa: Black Water	SoLyd	with Dietmar Bonnen
2008	The Closer	SoLyd	solo
2009	Aigui & Bonnen Play the Music of Kurt Weill: Nightshift	SoLyd	with Dietmar Bonnen

with Ensemble 4'33"

Release year	Title	Label	Notes
1997	Sisters Grimm Tales	SoLyd Records	ft. the NeTe
1997	Falls	Long Arms Records
1998	Hearts (Сердца)	SoLyd
1999	Taxidermy	SoLyd
1999	One Second Hand (Music For Kinetic Theatre)	SoLyd
2001	Equus	SoLyd
2002	Happiness, Fame And Fortune	SoLyd
2003	Mix	SoLyd	ft. Mina Agossi
2005	Live @ Loft	SoLyd
2012	Hard Disc	SoLyd
2016	Sergey Kuryokhin: The Spirit Lives	Leo Records

Selected filmography

Release year	Film	Soundtrack Label	Awards
1998	Country of the Deaf (soundtrack: Les Silencieuses)	Sergent Major Recording	Golden Aries Award for best score; Nika Award nominee
1998	Retro vtroyom
1998	Chastnye kroniki. Monolog
2000	Kamenskaya: Chuzhaya maska
2002	The Lover[9]		Golden Aries nominee; Nika nominee
2004	My Step Brother Frankenstein
2004	Kvartirka (TV series)
2004	Mars
2004	Ragin
2005	The Fall of the Empire (TV series)
2005	The Wedding Chest		Golden Aries nominee
2006	Charell
2006	Mans virs Andrejs Saharovs
2006	Made in Paris (Je pense à vous)
2007	Sishik Poutilin (TV series)
2008	The Great Alibi[10]
2008	Snezhnyy angel
2008	Wild Field	Music Box Records	Golden Eagle, Nika, and Kinotavr Awards for Best Music; White Elephant Award for Best Composer
2008	Ochen russkiy detektiv
2009	L'école du pouvoir
2009	Can't Say No (Je ne dis pas non)
2009	Moloch Tropical
2011	Hop-o'-My-Thumb (Le petit poucet)
2012	The Horde	SoLyd Records
2012	Rondo
2012	Looking for Hortense[11]
2014	Vychislitel
2015	Orlean		Nika Nominee; White Elephant for Best Composer
2015	V dalyokom sorok pyatom... Vstrechi na Elbe		Nika for Best Music
2015	Krasnaya koroleva (TV series)
2016	I Am Not Your Negro	Music Box Records / Lakeshore Records	Cinema Eye Honors Award Nominee
2016	Mata Hari (TV series)		APKiT nominee for Best Music in a TV Movie/Series
2017	The Young Karl Marx
2017	André
2017	Doktor Rikhter (TV series)
2017	Our Little Secret
2018	Assia
2019	Good as New
2019	The Truth (La vérité)	Music Box Records

References

1. "Alexei Aigui on Scoring the Breakthrough Documentary I am Not Your Negro". Score It Magazine. 24 February 2017. Retrieved 6 January 2021.
2. France, Peter (24 February 2006). "Gennady Aygi: Avant garde Russian poet and friend of Pasternak, his career blossomed with the advent of perestroika". The Guardian. Retrieved 6 January 2021.
3. "Concert-presentation at the State Musical Pedagogical Institute named after M.M. Ippolitov-Ivanov, Russia". European Foundation for Support of Culture. Retrieved 6 January 2021.
4. "The Jubilee Neoclassism of Alexei Aygi". Erarta Museum. 17 August 2014. Retrieved 6 January 2021.
5. "1998". KINOPRESSA. Retrieved 6 January 2021.
6. Hercules, Olia (6 April 2009). "Russian musical Hipsters scoops best film at Nika Awards". Screen International. Retrieved 6 January 2021.
7. Holdsworth, Nick (26 January 2009). "'Wild Field' wins Russian Eagle". Variety. Retrieved 6 January 2021.
8. Erbland, Kate (11 January 2017). "Cinema Eye Honors 2017 Winners List". IndieWire. Retrieved 6 January 2021.
9. Cockrell, Eddie (1 October 2002). "The Lover". Variety. Retrieved 6 January 2021.
10. Mintzer, Jordan (11 May 2008). "The Great Alibi". Variety. Retrieved 6 January 2021.
11. van Hoeij, Boyd (31 August 2012). "Cherchez Hortense". Variety. Retrieved 6 January 2021.