Alexander Knaifel (1943-2024) lived his entire live in St Petersburg, Russia. Setting out, initially, to be a cellist, he studied with Mstislav Rostropovich at the Moscow Conservatory in the early 1960s. As a composer he was soon allied with an emerging Soviet avant-garde, a network of friends such as Alfred Schnittke, Arvo Pärt, Sofia Gubaidulina and Valentin Silvestrov. Knaifel is the author of more than 100 works which defy all conventional genres. His creative genius transformed from the rebellious complexity of the avant-garde and the clarity of film music, and he has now established an international name for creating his unique sacred language of music. His music is free of everything non-essential and irrelevant and it immerses listeners into a meditative space, cleansing the soul of the sediments of ordinary life.
