John Cage and Franz Joseph Haydn may appear to be an unlikely musical couple, but they were both titans of their eras, influencing entire generations of composers and defining the style of their times: Haydn as the epitome of classicism and Cage as the trailblazer of the post-war avant-garde. Cage's String Quartet in Four Parts from 1950 is a spare, beautiful view of the four seasons based in part on Indian philosophy, of which he wrote at the time, "This piece is like the opening of another door; the possibilities implied are unlimited."

Haydn's first quartet in the opus 20 series ("Sun") likewise opens a new door of possibilities, as each instrument is liberated and given equal importance, a departure from the violin-driven tradition of the past. His "Sunrise" Quartet op. 76/4 closes the program, another shining example of his mastery of the genre.