Necklaces and 9 cords problem. For n=4 one considers the following weak 2-part compositions of 4: (4,0), (3,1), (2,2), and (0,4), where (1,3) does not appear because there are no necklaces with 1 bead. These compositions contribute respectively !4*1,binomial(4,3)*!3*c9(1), (binomial(4,2)*! 2)*c9(2), and 1*c9(4) with the subfactorials !n:=
A000166(n) (see the necklace comment there) and the c9(n):=
A049389(n) numbers for the pure 9-cord problem (see the remark on the e.g.f. for the k-cord problem in
A000153; here for k=9: 1/(1-x)^9). This adds up as 9 + 4*2*9 + (6*1)*90 + 11880 = 12501 = a(4).