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Download an a MP3 file of the fourth movement of this work performed by Marilynn Gibson, trumpet and David Gibson, bassoon.
The original version of this music was scored for trumpet and bassoon, as a set of duets for Marilynn and David Gibson, faculty members at the University of Louisiana, Monroe. This suite, entitled Close Encounters, is a musical exchange, at close range, well-suited to a husband-wife duo. The music was later expanded into a woodwind quintet version entitled Encounters.
"First Encounter" is an energetic greeting, or a first "hello." The music is straightforward, as if walking up to one another for an introduction, with perhaps a slight dance approach. This leads to "Leisurely Encounter," which is characterized by a relaxed tempo and blues style of playing.
"Synchronized Encounter" is marked "very quickly". The players need to be "in sync" in order to navigate the mixed meters, with foot taps and other extra-musical events interspersed! "Familiar Encounter -- a dance" comes at the end of the suite, when the players have become well acquainted. This movement allows the players to pair up for a series of dance interpretations of a well-known tune.
Notes by the composer