Wesleyan University Press The Christopher Small Reader (Music / Culture)

Review Here, you might think, are a few simple ideas, repeated many times. But they go deep, and seem simple only because we've gotten used to them. They can illuminate every corner of art, and our lives.--Greg Sandow, The Juilliard SchoolHere, you might think, are a few simple ideas, repeated many times. But they go deep, and seem simple only because we've gotten used to them. They can illuminate every corner of art, and our lives.--Greg Sandow, The Juilliard SchoolWhat puts Chris Small in a class by himself as the leading music & society thinker to date is his balanced, beautifully crafted and always clarifying prose. A necessary completion of Small's thinking-in-writing, this book may well be the most useful, allowing readers from every interest or field to consider his timely and radically egalitarian message.--Charles Keil, coauthor of Music GroovesFrom book excerpts of Small's classic texts to delightful, informal pieces, The Reader represents the vitality and integrity of a unique voice in music scholarship.--Marie McCarthy, professor of music education, University of Michigan Product Description The Christopher Small Reader is the fourth and final book in Christopher Small’s legacy as a composer, pianist, teacher, friend, provocateur, and influential outsider in classical music studies. It is at once a compendium of, a complement to, and an important addition to Small’s prior books: Musicking; Music, Society, Education; and Music of the Common Tongue. The Christopher Small Reader brings previously published work, some of it available in disparate locations, together with key excerpts from his three books, and other writings that remained unpublished at his passing in 2011, making available ideas that were not included in the earlier books and presenting an overview of his thought over the course of his life. The collection is a fitting capstone, providing rich insights into Small’s understanding of musicking as a crucial way of relating to the world. About the Author CHRISTOPHER SMALL (1927 2011) was a senior lecturer at Ealing College of Higher Education in London until 1986 and he lived in Sitges, Spain until his death. ROBERT WALSER is a professor and director of the Center for Popular Music Studies at Case Western Reserve University and author of Running with the Devil: Power, Gender, and Madness in Heavy Metal Music."