Alexei Aigui


Aleksey Aygi 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 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, 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; Wild Field, which received a Nika Award, Golden Eagle Award, 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.

Discography

Leader or co-leader

Release yearTitleLabelNotes
2001Musique CyrilliqueSoLydwith Pierre Bastien
2002Aigui & Bonnen Play the Music of Jimi Hendrix: Up From The SkiesSoLydwith Dietmar Bonnen
2003Aigui & Bonnen Play The Music Of Frank Zappa: Black WaterSoLydwith Dietmar Bonnen
2008The CloserSoLydsolo
2009Aigui & Bonnen Play the Music of Kurt Weill: NightshiftSoLydwith Dietmar Bonnen

with Ensemble 4'33"

Release yearTitleLabelNotes
1997Sisters Grimm TalesSoLyd Recordsft. the NeTe
1997FallsLong Arms Records
1998Hearts SoLyd
1999TaxidermySoLyd
1999One Second Hand SoLyd
2001EquusSoLyd
2002Happiness, Fame And FortuneSoLyd
2003MixSoLydft. Mina Agossi
2005Live @ LoftSoLyd
2012Hard DiscSoLyd
2016Sergey Kuryokhin: The Spirit LivesLeo Records

Selected filmography

Release yearFilmSoundtrack LabelAwards
1998Country of the Deaf Sergent Major RecordingGolden Aries Award for best score; Nika Award nominee
1998Retro vtroyom
1998Chastnye kroniki. Monolog
2000Kamenskaya: Chuzhaya maska
2002The LoverGolden Aries nominee; Nika nominee
2004My Step Brother Frankenstein
2004Kvartirka
2004Mars
2004Ragin
2005The Fall of the Empire
2005The Wedding ChestGolden Aries nominee
2006Charell
2006Mans virs Andrejs Saharovs
2006Made in Paris
2007Sishik Poutilin
2008The Great Alibi
2008Snezhnyy angel
2008Wild FieldMusic Box RecordsGolden Eagle, Nika, and Kinotavr Awards for Best Music; White Elephant Award for Best Composer
2008Ochen russkiy detektiv
2009L'école du pouvoir
2009Can't Say No
2009Moloch Tropical
2011Hop-o'-My-Thumb
2012The HordeSoLyd Records
2012Rondo
2012Looking for Hortense
2014Vychislitel
2015OrleanNika Nominee; White Elephant for Best Composer
2015V dalyokom sorok pyatom... Vstrechi na ElbeNika for Best Music
2015Krasnaya koroleva
2016I Am Not Your NegroMusic Box Records / Lakeshore RecordsCinema Eye Honors Award Nominee
2016Mata Hari APKiT nominee for Best Music in a TV Movie/Series
2017The Young Karl Marx
2017André
2017Doktor Rikhter
2017Our Little Secret
2018Assia
2019Good as New
2019The Truth Music Box Records
2022No Crying