4 by Peter Maxwell Davies was commissioned for the Scottish Chamber Orchestra by Christian Salvesen plc and composed in 1989.

[2] The plainchant "Adorna thalamum tuum, Sion", for a Feast of the Purification of the Virgin Mary (a processional chant with candles) is transformed by the composer into different but related sets of seven, nine, and ten notes, which are used as the basic pitch materials of the symphony.

[3] Such transformational treatment of plainchant melodies has been a characteristic of Davies's music since the 1957 sextet Alma Redemptoris Mater[4] The second source was the haunting sight of a golden eagle taking flight at sunrise, which the composer did not attempt to portray literally.

These forces reflect Davies's exploration at that time especially of the symphonies of Haydn and Mozart, in his capacity as associate conductor of the Scottish Chamber Orchestra.

[6] A short Adagio transition at the end seems to be preparing for a following slow movement, a forecast contradicted by the actual nature of the second movement—a musical trompe-l'oeil or "contradictory anticipation".