Suitable for teaching 14-16s. A performance of John Adams’ 'The Chairman Dances' by the BBC Philharmonic Orchestra.

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The Chairman Dances was written in 1987 as a companion piece to Adams' earlier work about the meeting of president Richard Nixon with China's leader Chairman Mao.

This clip is from the BBC series BBC Philharmonic Orchestra. The BBC Philharmonic Orchestra perform a selection of classical pieces often studied in classrooms.

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For Class Clips users, the original reference for the clip was p019db8t.

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Teaching Music?

Listen to this piece and comment on the structural changes that happen. Explore the story of the piece with the students and compare the narrative with the musical content. How does Adams keep the joins between the sections smooth? What minimalist techniques can the students identify in this piece? How does Adams create contrast in the texture and the melody? Split the class into several groups. Ask each group to create a piece using minimalist techniques. Problem solve how these separate compositions can be performed as one homogenous piece.

The performance of "The Chairman Dances" demonstrates several things: a modern symphony orchestra, a fully developed Minimalist style and an influence of Eastern music, specifically Chinese. During the film, the camera focuses on different instruments in turn. Show how the orchestra works together and how the composer highlights different instruments at different times. Initial work could be based on research into the development of the orchestra, prior to watching the video, and/or Minimalism. Students could research the music of John Adams, Terry Riley and Steve Reich.

This clip will be relevant for teaching Music. This topic appears in OCR, Edexcel, AQA, WJEC KS4/GCSE in England and Wales, CCEA GCSE in Northern Ireland and SQA National 4/5 and Higher in Scotland.

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