John Adams has emerged as one of the most significant, as well as one of the most frequently performed, contemporary composers in the United States. He is usually regarded as exemplifying the so-called "minimalist" trend in composition, along with composers like Steve Reich and Philip Glass. Of course, no two composers approach "minimalism" in exactly the same way; nor would all composers who find themselves associated with the term necessarily embrace the description. Nonetheless, Adams's music is often characterized by lengthy stretches that sound approximately the same, with the audience's attention attracted by subtle changes in the musical texture rather than more traditional musical "themes." In general, the effect can be described as a slowly shifting sonic landscape, rather than an attempt to communicate a story or lead the listener along an intense psychological journey.
The Chairman Dances is, therefore, not entirely characteristic in this respect. In 1987, Adams completed his opera Nixon in China, based on President Nixon's historic visit to China in 1972. The original concept of the opera, on which Adams worked in conjunction with the controversial stage director Peter Sellars, included a scene at one of the banquets honoring the occasion. Although the episode that this music would have accompanied was ultimately deleted from the opera, the score for the work offers the following description of the scenario:
"Chiang Ch'ing, a.k.a. Madame Mao, has gatecrashed the Presidential Banquet. She is first seen standing where she is most in the way of the waiters. After a few minutes, she brings out a box of paper lanterns and hangs them around the hall, then strips down to a cheongsam, skin-tight from neck to ankle and slit up to the hip. She signals the orchestra to play and begins dancing by herself. Mao is becoming excited. He steps down from his portrait on the wall and they begin to foxtrot together. They are back in Yenan, dancing to the gramophone...."
The beginning of the piece features only a steady rhythm and slowly shifting harmonies. Gradually, bell-like attacks from various sections of the orchestra start to become more and more frequent, but, in spite of the increasing energy, nothing concrete emerges. The opening dance features four brief, slightly contrasting sections, each with its own subtly different emphasis on rhythmic and harmonic content. Abruptly, a lush melody unfolds in the violins, providing the first real character change of the piece, and soon different melodic ideas take over in the lower instruments, becoming more and more agitated.
Just as the music has reached its maximum state of chaos, the accumulated sound suddenly vanishes, leading to a section of great delicacy. After wandering through a variety of transitions, the music returns to one of the ideas from the opening dance, starting off quite slowly but irresistibly accelerating back to the original tempo. With the energetic character of the beginning established once again, a long, noble melodic line appears, emerging first from the violas and horns, then making its way to the violins and flute. Finally the music seems to reach a plateau, but then it begins receding, with various sections of the orchestra dropping out bit by bit. Eventually only the piano and a small group of percussion instruments are left, and then even the piano is suppressed in an inconclusive, disorienting ending.