biography
| name: |
Duke, Vernon
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originally Vladimir Alexandrovich Dukelsky
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| sex:
| male
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| lived:
| (1903–69)
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| biography:
| Composer, born in Russia. Trained at the Kiev Conservatory, he went to New York City and wrote a piano concerto for Arthur Rubenstein (1922). In Paris two years later he wrote a ballet for Sergei Diaghilev and also wrote stage music in London (1926–9). From this point on he tended to use his original Russian name for his serious music and his adopted name for his more popular works. Back in New York (he became a US citizen in 1936) he became well-known for his stage and film scores. His best-known song was probably ‘April in Paris’ for the revue Walk a Little Faster (1932) while his best-known musical was Cabin in the Sky (1940). He continued to write music in the classical forms, and his concert music was promoted by Serge Koussevitzky. |
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