Christopher Small was 84 New Zealand-born gay writer and musicologist Christopher Small has dies in Sitges, Spain, aged 84. Known for his jargon-free and accessible writing, Small wrote Music, Society, Education (1977), Music of the Common Tongue (1987) and Musicking (1998). Small is regarded as having a great influence not only on students and teacher of music, but also on critics. Born in Palmerston North in 1927, Small studied zoology at Otago University, then switched to music and studied piano, choral conducting and composition at Victoria University in Wellington. In the early 1960s he moved to London and began a 20-year teaching career at Ealing College of Higher Education. In 1986 moved to Sitges with his partner Neville Braithwaite, a Jamaican-born singer, dancer and educator. The couple was married just before Braithwaite's death in 2006. Friend Felicity Laurence, a New Zealander who teaches music in Newcastle and is a renowned children's choral music specialist, writes in Small's obituary in The Guardian: "Chris was a mentor and friend to many and, through his magical writing, to countless others across the globe who felt they knew him too. His love for Neville, a wondrous dancer and sweet singer, sustained him and gave his life its deepest meaning."
Credit: GayNZ.com Daily News staff
First published: Thursday, 22nd September 2011 - 1:10pm