This ballet, commissioned by Lincoln Kirstein, was the first piece made by Merce Cunningham for classically trained dancers, members of Ballet Society and students from the School of American Ballet, together with Cunningham himself. He and Cage had in mind both the Indian art and legends of the Northwest United States and also aspects of Hindu philosophy, identifying the four seasons with traditional emotions: winter/tranquility, spring/creation, summer/ preservation, fall/destruction. Each of the sections named for the seasons was preceded by a Prelude devoted choreographically to a specific incident, such as a love duet; the seasons themselves were dealt with more abstractly. The first Prelude was repeated at the end to symbolize the seasons’ recurrence. Cage composed the music first for piano solo and then orchestrated it with the assistance of Lou Harrison and Virgil Thomson. Noguchi’s designs, which included projections, masks, and properties, added another layer of Japanese imagery to the mix.