Southminster United Church
Monday, February 2, 2026 - 7:30 PM
Doors open 30 minutes before showtime.
Nick Sullivan, bass trombone and your Lethbridge Symphony Orchestra
Generously sponsored by Subway Auto
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King George 1st requested a concert on the Thames, and Handel did not disappoint. His Water Music comprises three suites, each including a variety of dance types. Is anyone up for a bourrée on the royal barge? The rising tide carried the King’s barge upstream quietly, without rowing, followed by a second barge carrying 50 musicians performing Handel’s music. Many other Londoners took to the river, with the local paper The Courant exclaiming “the whole river in a manner was covered with boats and barges” - truly a unique way to experience live music.
Canadian composer Elizabeth Raum is known for her remarkably diverse compositional styles, having written music for ensembles and soloists across the globe. Raum’s vibrant Concerto for Bass Trombone, performed by our own bass trombonist Nick Sullivan, was written in 2007 as a birthday gift for Douglas Sparkes, who played bass trombone with the Vancouver Symphony Orchestra from 1974 to 2016. Commissioned by his students and colleagues, the piece highlights the expressive range and personality of the bass trombone across three contrasting movements. The first begins with a bold, attention-grabbing fanfare that gives way to a smooth, winding melody. The second movement is lyrical and flowing, with a cheerful, whimsical tune that appears in the middle. The final movement brings a bold, energetic feel, with the return of the playful melody offering a fun contrast to the movement’s driving rhythm and intensity.
Beethoven Symphony #2 was written in 1802, when the composer’s deafness was becoming more pronounced and he began to realize it was incurable. The scherzo (which, translated, means “jokingly”) and the finale were deliberately filled with musical jokes by Beethoven, which contemporary critics found shocking. The second movement hints at the influence of folk music; the third is based on a “typical-sounding Austrian side-slapping dance”. A critic for the Newspaper for the Elegant World famously wrote that the symphony was “a hideously writhing, wounded dragon that refused to die, [and] in its last agonies in the fourth movement [was] bleeding to death”. Hmm, did that fellow actually like this symphony - or not? Whether a joke, a dance, or a dying dragon, Beethoven’s energy can be heard here.