He first corresponded with Olivier Messiaen in 1936 and was responsible for organising the first complete performance in England of Messiaen's "La Nativité du Seigneur", played by the composer himself at St Alban's Church, Holborn, in 1938. They developed a warm friendship which lasted until the composer's death in 1992. His first encounter with Francis Poulenc was well before the start of World War II; their first meeting was at J. & W. Chester's music shop, when he asked the composer to sign a photograph, duly inscribed "Qui est ce monstre?" ("Who is this monster?"). The two became firm friends and Aprahamian often visited Poulenc in Paris. His talent for making friends such as these led to many memorable events at his house in Muswell Hill. Poulenc first played through his "Elégie in memory of Dennis Brain" there, and in 1945 Messiaen and Yvonne Loriod gave a private rendition of Messiaen's "Visions de l'Amen" before the British première.