My journey as a pianist: from student to passionate player

[rhimmon]

Hey everyone,

I wanted to share a bit about my journey as a pianist and some lessons I’ve picked up along the way. I started playing piano at nine years old with a dedicated teacher, and by the time I was learning Beethoven’s Pathetique, I knew I was in for something serious. High school brought new challenges as I studied under a college professor who really opened my eyes to the depth of my commitment.

Playing through high school, I won some competitions and had the amazing opportunity to perform with the Syracuse Symphony Orchestra. This experience was a huge milestone for me. At the Crane School of Music, I was deeply engaged and continued playing with the Crane Symphony Orchestra, which further fueled my passion. I left Crane with a Bachelor's in Piano Performance and Psychology after doing one final performance playing Rachmaninoff's 2nd piano concerto (first movement) with the Crane Symphony Orchestra (link to this performance below).

I eventually combined my love for music with a psychology PhD program, which has allowed me to explore my musical interests in new ways. Now, I play piano for the sheer joy of it, and looking back, I’m grateful for how this journey has shaped who I am.

I just wanted to share these experiences and hope they resonate with some of you!

[rhimmon]

re: post above about this performance

[bryfarr]

What area of psychology did you focus your PhD in, may I ask?

Nice rendition of Rach 2 first movment, btw.

[rhimmon]

Thanks! It's a fun piece to play.

I did my PhD in experimental psychology, specifically music cognition. I focused on time perception and musical illusions with speech. Here's my ResearchGate profile and one of my talks: https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Rhimmon-Simchy-Gross

[dizzyfingers]

I'm interested in the field of Time Perception, going to watch your video.
I think it's unfortunate that the modern mindset has essentially abandoned the mystery of experience, believing that science is going to explain everything, including Time.  Some science vloggers admit that we do not know what time is, but then launch into the science and math of time.  People essentially think of time as how we count seconds, minutes, hours, days, weeks, etc.  This is only counting.

Have you read Henri Bergson?  He was the strongest voice in the 1890's -1920's emphasizing the mystery of experience over the reductionism of science.  His first book was "Time and Free Will: on the immediate data of consciousness".

[essence]

St Augustine was way ahead of his time regarding time. He wrote about it in his confessions.

Well worth reading.

[rhimmon]

Just revisiting this thread after some time...(no pun intended)

@dizzyfingers
I haven’t read Bergson yet, but what you shared makes me want to. That tension you mentioned — between raw experience and the mathematical framing of time — was at the heart of my PhD work, even if I approached it from a more cognitive-scientific angle. I studied how music can feel like it’s bending time, even when the tempo doesn’t change — it really highlights how much of time is lived, not just measured.

@essence
Yes — Augustine’s reflections in Confessions are timeless (no pun intended). That line — "What, then, is time? If no one asks me, I know; if I wish to explain it to him who asks, I do not know." — could honestly be the motto of the entire field of time perception.

Thanks to both of you for sharing!

[essence]

Very happy you enjoy Augustine. He was way ahead of his time.

He also wrote very astute things about science and religion.
https://www.theichthus.com/blog/2010/09/augustine-on-faith-and-science

[dizzyfingers]

To suggest that one of the greatest masters, if not THE greatest, of handling Time in music is Beethoven, is not so radical.
I think it would be a worthy thesis topic - how Beethoven's management of Time in music demonstrates a deep metaphysical understanding of it.
I had a college professor who played us a Beethoven piece that indicated (to him) that Beethoven was toying with the idea of Time going backwards.  I wish I could remember which piece it was.

[essence]

I first heard Bach's toccata in D major in Magdalena Ho's performance at the Cliburn. I was amazed at the composition. So free and improvisational. Some passages must have been used by Beethoven - e.g. the bridging passage in the Hammerklavier second movement where it is marked Tempo 1  is just like the Bach bar 8. Totally unexpected. Came out of nowhere. In both cases.

But I also felt the Bach kept on looking forward to the fugue, it seemed to be looking forwards and having interrupted fugues (coitus) before finally arriving.

Schubert was also a master of time. My greatest love, his G major quartet, is a unique example.

https://academic.oup.com/mq/article-abstract/84/4/582/1097646

https://www.researchgate.net/publication/303325553_In_Search_of_Liberated_Time_or_Schubert's_Quartet_in_G_Major_D_887_Once_More_Between_Sonata_and_Variation

Unfortunately the article is behind a paywall, and I don;t think I have ever  read it fully. Of course, time and memory go together, as James Joyce and Proust knew too well.

This is excellent.

i=kjg39rS6ZIjKCScP

[dizzyfingers]

This is excellent.

i=kjg39rS6ZIjKCScP

I listened to Anne Hyland's video in it's entirety.  It's a good formal analysis of the piece but it failed to convince me anything about how Schubert manipulates our experience of time.  I also listened to the string quartet, which I'd known pretty well (from a listening standpoint) many years ago.

To elucidate the experience of time is challenging.  It takes quite an intellect - even the philosophers I've read - Aristotle, Kant, Bergson (not Augustine, yet) somehow fall short, though they do better than most anyone else.