Vernon Duke

Vernon Duke was among the most popular composers of the Depression era, scoring a series of hits including the standards "April in Paris," "Autumn in New York," and "I Can't Get Started"; under his real name Vladimir Dukelsky, he also enjoyed a concurrent career in classical music. Born October 10, 1903, in Parafianovo, Russia, he was raised in Kiev, and at age 11 was admitted to the Kiev Conservatory, studying composition under Reinhold Gliere and theory under Boleslaw Jaworski. Civil unrest forced the Dukelsky family to flee Russia in 1919, and after spending some 18 months ...