This beautifully titled composition for orchestra was inspired by a dream in which the composer saw a flock of white birds, led by a single black bird swirling around and then descending into a pentagonal or star-shaped garden. The garden, however, turned out to be the star on the back of artist Marcel Duchamp's head in the famous photograph by Man Ray.

In Takemitsu's musical encoding or symbolism, the black bird leader is represented by the tone F sharp. The other birds are represented in pentatonic scales generated from each tone of the initial F sharp pentatonic: thus there is one five-note scale each on A flat, on B flat, C sharp, and E flat. The relationship between these scales (often presented as woodwind chords sounding like the ancient Japanese mouth organ called the sho) is original, like branches of branches on a tree, or successive ripples within ripples in a pond. The further the scale notes diverge from the initial F sharp, the greater is the activity in the writing to get them to gravitate back to that initial tone. Takemitsu described the F sharp sounding out "constantly in the manner of a drone."

A whimsical wind solo (bird theme) against a lovely sustained cluster opens the work; then a deeply ominous chord builds up to a frightening level. Lushly harmonized, lyrical melodies (bird and garden themes) float like clouds. Silvery glissandi whistle by. Booming bass tones create a surreal storm. The flight of the birds is again depicted by sensuous melodies surrounded by trilling figures and cries from the winds. Steely non-vibrato chords suggest a metallic garden, while bell-like textures and hard plucked harp strings and multiple airy glissandi are added in. The sequence of playful clarinet (bird theme) to rich strings (garden theme) to deep bass accents is repeated, and begun again; the harmonic series is reminiscent of passages in Alban Berg's opera Lulu. On the next repetition, the series resolves to an exquisite chord across the full range of the orchestra.

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