Miaskovsky, friend and mentor of the young Prokofiev at the St. Petersburg Conservatory, where he had been taught by Liadov and Rimsky-Korsakov, after private lessons with Glière. His 27 symphonies, spanning a period from 1908 to 1950, encompass and to some extent seek to express the varied fortunes of Russia and the Soviet Union. Another aspect of his work is heard in the nine piano sonatas, which span a similar