Christopher Small facts for kids
Christopher Neville Charles Small (born March 17, 1927 – died September 7, 2011) was a talented musician, teacher, and author from New Zealand. He wrote many important books and articles about music, how it relates to society, and different cultures.
Christopher Small created a special word: musicking. He wanted to show that music is something we do (a verb), not just an object (a noun). It's all about the actions and connections involved with music.
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About Christopher Small
Christopher Small was born in Palmerston North, New Zealand. He was the youngest of three children. His father was a dentist, and his mother used to be a schoolteacher.
He went to several schools in New Zealand, including Palmerston North Boys' High School. Later, he studied at the University of Otago and Victoria University College. He also taught at high schools like Horowhenua College. During this time, he even helped make educational animated films!
In 1960, Christopher received a special scholarship from the New Zealand government. This allowed him to travel in the United Kingdom in 1961. He then studied how to compose music in London with famous composers like Priaulx Rainier.
After his studies, he stayed in England and taught music at different colleges. He became a senior lecturer at Ealing College of Higher Education in London. He also taught at Dartington College of Arts and Syracuse University's London Centre.
Christopher Small stopped teaching in 1986 and moved to Sitges, Spain. There, he continued to be involved with music, even leading Catalan choirs. Many people from Europe and the USA who admired his work would visit him. Famous music experts like Charles Keil and Susan McClary supported his ideas.
Christopher Small passed away in 2011. His sister, Rosemary, is still alive.
Throughout his life, he wrote several books and contributed to many music magazines like Music in Education and The Musical Times. He gave talks at many schools and organizations in the UK, Norway, and the United States. He even appeared on BBC-TV2 and BBC Radio 3, where he discussed African-American music.
What is Musicking?
In his book called Musicking (published in 1998), Christopher Small suggested adding this new word to the English language. He explained that musicking means any activity that involves or is connected to a musical performance.
He defined it like this:
To music is to take part, in any capacity, in a musical performance, whether by performing, by listening, by rehearsing or practicing, by providing material for performance (what is called composing), or by dancing. We might at times even extend its meaning to what the person is doing who takes the tickets at the door or the hefty men who shift the piano and the drums or the roadies who set up the instruments and carry out the sound checks or the cleaners who clean up after everyone else has gone. They, too, are all contributing to the nature of the event that is a musical performance.
Basically, if you're involved with music in any way – playing, listening, practicing, composing, dancing, or even helping set up a concert – you are "musicking"!
Christopher Small believed that "musicking" is an active way we connect with the world around us. He wrote:
The act of musicking establishes in the place where it is happening a set of relationships, and it is in those relationships that the meaning of the act lies. They are to be found not only between those organized sounds which are conventionally thought of as being the stuff of musical meaning but also between the people who are taking part, in whatever capacity, in the performance; and they model, or stand as metaphor for, ideal relationships as the participants in the performance imagine them to be: relationships between person and person, between individual and society, between humanity and the natural world and even perhaps the supernatural world.
This means that when we "music," we create connections. These connections are not just between the sounds, but also between the people involved. It's about how we relate to each other, to society, and even to nature through music.
Christopher Small's Works
Music He Composed
Christopher Small wrote many pieces of music, including:
- Actions for Chorus – Some Maori Place Names for a large choir (1974)
- Black Cat for school percussion groups and voices (1968)
- Children of the Mist, a ballet for orchestra (1960)
- Concert Piece for orchestra (1963)
- High Country Stockman, orchestral music for a film (1952)
- Suite from Children of the Mist, for orchestra (1960)
- TB, for a film (1955)
- The Story of Soil, music for a film (1954)
- Trees, music for a film (1952)
- Various Songs and Solo Piano Pieces for students and friends (1980)
- What on Earth is Happening music for a film (1958)
Christopher Small Collection
In 1997, after he retired, Christopher Small gave his personal library of books to the University of Girona in Spain. This collection is very special and unique for universities in that area. It has almost 500 books, mostly about music. These books cover topics like music from different cultures (ethnomusicology), how music relates to society, and popular music. It includes many books about African-American music styles like jazz, blues, and soul.
