David Blum's long-awaited book, "Appointment with the Wise Old Dog: A Bridge to the Transformative Power of Dreams, " provides the necessary, comprehensive complement to his highly regarded 1998 documentary. The film, "Appointment with the Wise Old Dog: Dream Images in a Time of Crisis, " crystallized his inner work as it related to his cancer experience. A private link of the entire DVD is included with the book.
In contrast to the DVD, this book contains the foundational work comprised of forty-three dream paintings and commentaries derived from a lifetime of numinous archetypal dreams so that Blum's cancer experience turns out to be only a part of his whole life's story, a coda to his thirty-five-year inner journey.
The primary sources of David's Blum's commentaries, his diaries and dream journals, date from his seventeenth to his sixty-fourth year. This crucible into which he poured his most intimate confessions contains the living spontaneity of his original experiences remarkably intact. By re-entering the dream state and allowing the images to speak to him, Blum gently leads the reader into his world of color, form, music and the mapping of his soul.
The language, unhampered by jargon or weighty terminology, always remains accessible to the lay reader drawn to inner transformation. This work resonates with the musician, the artist, the theologian, the psychologist and the patient - whether facing a terminal illness or not. It offers the rare potential to communicate our shared capacity to explore multiple levels of meaning, acting as a springboard into one's own inner experience. Anyone interested in the power of dreams, the transformative effect of symbols and archetypes, or faced with any existential crisis will find this book inspirational.
The author, an internationally recognized musician and writer brings rich musical depth to the material. One of America's musical icons, Yo-Yo Ma, Blum's friend and colleague, has expressed a profound appreciation for the work in his endorsements of both the DVD and the book.
By his inspired Foreword, Murray Stein offers the reader, concerned with humanity's inner spiritual life, an individual template for experiencing Blum's extraordinary contribution to Depth Psychology.
Author Biography:
David Blum leaves an extraordinary musical legacy as conductor and writer. He studied composition and conducting at the Juilliard School of Music. In his early twenties, he recorded with the English Chamber Orchestra and guest-conducted throughout Europe, America and Israel. His meeting with Pablo Casals at the 1953 Prades Festival was a transformative experience and one which not only informed his music-making ever afterwards, but also led to a close friendship with the legendary musician that was to last nearly two decades. In 1961, David founded The Esterhazy Orchestra in New York, with Casals acting as Honorary President. Dedicated to the music of Haydn, the orchestra gave groundbreaking tours throughout the U.S. and Canada. The acclaimed series of recordings of Haydn symphonies on the Vanguard label permanently preserve the remarkable collaboration between David and his outstanding musicians. In the 1970s, and over the next two decades, David became an esteemed writer on music and musicians, frequently contributing major articles for The New York Times, The New Yorker, the BBC Music Magazine and The Strad. His books, which have been translated into many languages, include: Casals and the Art of Interpretation, Paul Tortelier, The Art of Quartet Playing, and Quintet. As a writer, he revealed the inner working approaches of some of the greatest performers of our time. Although he was a prolific writer, he could only ever write about those artists with whom he felt a passionate empathy, and whose genius became woven into the fabric of his own life.
