Dave Apollon (born Denis Apollonov, russian: Денис Аполлонов; February 23, 1898 – May 30, 1972) was an American

mandolin A mandolin ( it, mandolino ; literally "small mandola") is a stringed musical instrument in the lute family and is generally plucked with a pick. It most commonly has four courses of doubled strings tuned in unison, thus giving a total of 8 ...

player. Today Dave Apollon is regarded as one of the most innovative and influential mandolinists of the twentieth century, whose more notable recordings and performances include

Two Guitars ''Two Guitars One Passion'' is the second album released by the flamenco-influenced Latin guitar duo Lara & Reyes Lara & Reyes is an instrumental group founded by Sergio Lara and Joe Reyes in 1989. It performed flamenco-influenced Latin gui ...

Hora staccato ''Hora staccato'' (1906) is a virtuoso violin showpiece by Grigoraș Dinicu. It is a short, fast work in a Romanian hora style, and has become a favorite encore of violinists, especially in the 1932 arrangement by Jascha Heifetz. The piece requir ...

Grigoraș Dinicu Grigoraș Ionică Dinicu (; April 3, 1889 – March 28, 1949) was a Romanian violin virtuoso and composer of Roma ethnicity. He is most famous for his often-played virtuoso violin showpiece "Hora staccato" (1906) and for making popular the tune C ...

and

Zigeunerweisen ''Zigeunerweisen'' (''Gypsy Airs'', es, Aires gitanos, link=no), Op. 20, is a musical composition for violin and orchestra written in 1878 by the Spanish composer Pablo de Sarasate. It was premiered the same year in Leipzig, Germany. Like his c ...

aka "Gypsy Airs" by

Pablo de Sarasate Pablo Martín Melitón de Sarasate y Navascués (; 10 March 1844 – 20 September 1908), commonly known as Pablo de Sarasate, was a Spanish (Navarrese) violin virtuoso, composer and conductor of the Romantic period. His best known works include ...

. His styles include Gypsy and various kinds of European

folk music Folk music is a music genre that includes traditional folk music and the contemporary genre that evolved from the former during the 20th-century folk revival. Some types of folk music may be called world music. Traditional folk music has b ...

. He is also regarded as one of the first jazz mandolinists, with such memorable recordings as Who and

St. Louis Blues The St. Louis Blues are a professional ice hockey team based in St. Louis. The Blues compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Central Division in the Western Conference. The franchise was founded in 1967 as one of the s ...

Early life

Apollon was born in 1898, to a Jewish family in the city of

Kiev Kyiv, also spelled Kiev, is the capital and most populous city of Ukraine. It is in north-central Ukraine along the Dnieper, Dnieper River. As of 1 January 2021, its population was 2,962,180, making Kyiv the List of European cities by populat ...

, which was at the time part of

Russia Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a List of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia, Northern Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the ...

. At an early age, he played the

violin The violin, sometimes known as a ''fiddle'', is a wooden chordophone (string instrument) in the violin family. Most violins have a hollow wooden body. It is the smallest and thus highest-pitched instrument (soprano) in the family in regular ...

but abandoned the instrument after taking a fervent interest in an old bowl back mandolin his father kept in the house.

Career

By age 14 Apollon had already founded an ensemble and was performing professionally in a local movie theatre. In 1919 he moved to New York City and almost immediately got a job in

vaudeville Vaudeville (; ) is a theatrical genre of variety entertainment born in France at the end of the 19th century. A vaudeville was originally a comedy without psychological or moral intentions, based on a comical situation: a dramatic composition ...

, where he floored audiences with stunning virtuosity. In 1929 he made the first of his musical shorts, something he would continue with for much of his career. In 1941 he was a member of the touring company of "Boys and Girls Together". In 1946 he met and played with

Django Reinhardt Jean Reinhardt (23 January 1910 – 16 May 1953), known by his Romani nickname Django ( or ), was a Romani-French jazz guitarist and composer. He was one of the first major jazz talents to emerge in Europe and has been hailed as one of its most ...

while the legendary guitarist was on tour with

Duke Ellington Edward Kennedy "Duke" Ellington (April 29, 1899 – May 24, 1974) was an American jazz pianist, composer, and leader of his eponymous jazz orchestra from 1923 through the rest of his life. Born and raised in Washington, D.C., Ellington was based ...

in New York. In early 1950, he released his version of the No. 1 hit "Third Man Theme" (made famous by

Anton Karas Anton Karl Karas (7 July 1906 – 10 January 1985) was an Austrian zither player and composer, best known for his internationally famous 1948 soundtrack to Carol Reed's ''The Third Man''. His association with the film came about as a result of ...

and

Guy Lombardo Gaetano Alberto "Guy" Lombardo (June 19, 1902 – November 5, 1977) was an Italian-Canadian-American bandleader, violinist, and hydroplane racer. Lombardo formed the Royal Canadians in 1924 with his brothers Carmen, Lebert and Victor, and othe ...

, among others) on the National label (#9104). The flip side was "The Cafe Mozart Waltz". "Billboard" described the single as "Sensational ... new ... and different." Apollon died in 1972, after a career that spanned over fifty years.

References

External links

Biography
* ttps://books.google.com/books?id=K0dqG7yu5IYC&lpg=PA18&dq=Dave%20apollon&pg=PA18#v=onepage&q=Dave%20apollon&f=false Picture of Dave's Philippine Orchestra.br>Portrait of a young Dave Apollon as vaudeville performer.Page that lists some films Dave Apollon was in.
1898 births 1972 deaths Mandolinists Russian musicians Russian mandolinists {{Russia-musician-stub