Alexander Knaifel

[2] From the very beginning of his composing career he associated himself with the group of so-called "avant-garde" Soviet composers that include Andrey Volkonsky, Edison Denisov, Alfred Schnittke, Sofia Gubaidulina, Valentin Silvestrov, Leonid Hrabovsky, Arvo Pärt, Tigran Mansuryan, and others.

For example, his very slow and quiet Agnus Dei (1985) written for four instrumentalists (each of whom plays several instruments including keyboards, percussion, electronics, saxophones and double bass) lasts exactly 120 minutes.

"[4] Alexander Knaifel had a performance dedicated to his music in Ireland on 1 May 2009 as part of the Drogheda Arts Festival.

The event entitled The Rest is Noise : the music of Alexander Knaifel featured the world premiere of a new work, the string trio " EF and the three calling cards of the poet".

Verlag Ernst Kuhn – Berlin ISBN 3-928864-92-0; Tara Wilson: 'Russian Post-Minimalist Music: A Semiological Investigation into the Narrative Approaches employed by Alexander Knaifel between 1978 and 1994' (PhD Thesis: Goldsmiths, University of London, 2015).