DAVID BLUM

Musician and Dreamer

BOOKS

Paul Tortelier (Introduction), Antony Hopkins (Foreword)

“Blum has elegantly combined precise music terminology with meticulous music examples to present lucid and revealing details of interpretation that can be quickly and easily grasped. Only superlatives apply to this book, and all serious musicians would find immense pleasure and musical profit from reading this work. Highly recommended at all levels.” —Choice 

With his friend and colleague David Blum, Tortelier has given us a unique and intimate self-portrait which will delight readers as his music thrills audiences. (from the book jacket.)

Buchet/Chastel, France, 1984

Reprinted by:

  • William Heinemann, U.K.
  • Buchet/Chastel, France
  • Ongaku No Tomo, Japan

“I look forward with great interest and anticipation to reading Paul Tortelier’s book. My admiration for him could not be greater. What a joy it is to make music with this master!”              

              -Arthur Rubinstein

From the obituary in The Times of London, 1998 

Photo Credit: Ardan Michael Blum

The Art of Quartet Playing: The Guarneri Quartet in Conversation with David Blum

 Alfred A. Knopf, New York, 1986

Reprinted by:

  • Random House of Canada Limited, Toronto, 1986
  • Cornell Paperbacks, Cornell University Press, Ithaca, 1987
  • Barenreiter Verlag, Kassel, Germany, 1988
  • Actes Sud, France, 1991
  • Idea Books, S.A., Barcelona, Spain, 2000

“This is arguably the best book on the subject.”

-Publisher’s Weekly 

“Each of the stories of these five remarkable musicians traces a journey in which musical and personal development are inseparable. A struggle is waged that eventually leads, often in unforeseen ways, to greater human and artistic fulfillment. In every case, success is measured in terms that are internal as well as external. –David Blum

“These five profiles give the clearest evidence of the central value of David Blum’s writings about music during his all-too-short lifetime. The extraordinary sensitivity that he makes so clear in his conversations with Yo-Yo Ma, Jeffrey Tate, Josef Gingold, Richard Goode, and Birgit Nilsson gives evidence of a passion and a respect for beauty in music and the acknowledgment of the enormous discipline necessary to make a successful career, a career that is not only a few concerts in a period of time, but the dedication of a lifetime to a chosen commitment. I think music lovers and educators everywhere will be fascinated and truly informed by this book, as will anyone who wants to know how the quality of life in our time can be enriched.” -Isaac Stern

Photo credits, clockwise from top left:

  • Jeffrey Tate and David Blum: Photo by Sarah Blum, London, England, November 1992
  • Richard Goode and David Blum: Photo by Sarah Blum, San Francisco, June,1992
  • Josef Gingold: Photo by David Blum, Bloomington, Indiana, June, 1993
  • Birgit Nilsson and David Blum, Photo by Sarah Blum, West Karup, Sweden, June 1995
  • Yo-Yo MA: reprinted from The Strad, January, 1988

You are listening to Haydn's Symphony No. 75, conducted by David Blum with the Esterhazy Orchestra.

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