Toru Takemitsu's "A Flock Descends into the Pentagonal Garden" grew of out several influences. One inspiration was the composer's dreams, including a vision of a flock of white birds led by a single black bird. Another was his love of traditional Japanese gardens. A spark was provided by the American avant-garde composer John Cage, whose concept of indeterminate music - in which passages are left to chance or improvisation by the performers - was tremendously appealing to Takemitsu. The image of a five-sided garden also informs the piece's structure: five brief sections are built on five-note themes based on the pentatonic scale. Series: "La Jolla Symphony & Chorus" [Arts and Music] [Show ID: 33853]