"I must stop writing now, but my emotions carry me up to high dimensions of happiness."

But I love to exchange ideas, emotional and intellectual, about these great artists.

Everyone has their own taste, of course, but I find it surprising that if you like Rachmaninov (as I do myself) you wouldn't appreciate some of Prok's works which are also in a late Romantic style.

As I can see you are a music lover, then if you don't know Prok's "Romeo and Juliet" that was mentioned above by other kibitzers, perhaps you could spend a few dollars on a CD (Naxos, which is nice and cheap) and try it out. I would be surprised if you didn't like it (particularly the gorgeous slow piece at the end "Juliet's Death") - if not, you can take the CD back to the shop and curse me. (Also try Prokofievs' "Classical Symphony" - the name really says it all).

Prokofiev, like Stravinsky, had phases and particular works that are much more "modernist" and more difficult to listen to, and others that are more conventional. For Stravinsky, his ballet music for "Pulcinella" and "The Firebird" is straightforward and elegant - Naxos does a "Best of Stravinsky" that includes extracts from both.

These guys could really compose well in any style they liked!

As to Prokofiev's music, it's better to start with the easy pieces - and then, if you will, move on to the more complicated. I made the mistake of starting with Skythian Suite (which I still don't really like) but it's recommendable to start elsewhere. Even in the pieces which are not so fantastic, there are that special prokofian tone and way of blending the moods which can be quite addictive. He reused his own music on many occasions in different pieces.

"Another well-known musician often came to join us at dinner. I well remember the bell boy paging us nearly every evening: 'Mr. Prokofiev is waiting...'.

"Luckily we were all soon to depart to other destinations. I had not enjoyed Mr. Profokiev's company. He was rather what in those days was called a 'sourpuss'. I don't think he liked me either, for I represented a bit of old Russia, which he officially hated. A couple of times we had arguments. If I were to compare him to someone I would think of Alekhine. The same tinge of nastiness in a rather colorless face.

"Capa's taste in music was much stricter than mine. Bach was his favorite, then came Mozart and Beethoven, while I preferred more modern composers. Chopin, Rachmaninov, Grieg, Debussey, etc. We both adored symphonic orchestras, but while I was indifferent to chamber music, in Capa's opinion the string quartet was music's highest expression. Neither of us cared for jazz."

It is the second movement of his 7th Piano Sonata.