A Road Less Travelled By

General Info

Year:: 2020
Difficulty:: Grade 6 (Philip Sparke)
Publisher:: Anglo Music Press (AMP 500-030; score AMP 500-130; study score AMP 500-330)
Cost:: Score and Parts – £154.99 | Score Only – £36.50

Movements

Moto Perpetuo
Nocturne
Scherzo Finale

Instrumentation

Full Score
Soprano Cornet in E-flat
Solo Cornet in B-flat I–IV (score shows "1.2" and "3.4")
Repiano Cornet in B-flat
2nd Cornet in B-flat
3rd Cornet in B-flat
Flugelhorn in B-flat
Solo Horn in E-flat
1st Horn in E-flat
2nd Horn in E-flat
1st Baritone
2nd Baritone
1st Trombone
2nd Trombone
Bass Trombone
Euphonium I–II
E-flat Bass
B-flat Bass
Timpani
Percussion I–III, including (partial, from the publisher's 28-page sample score):
- Bass Drum
- Snare Drum
- Suspended Cymbal
- Tam-tam
- Tambourine
- Glockenspiel
- Xylophone
- Vibraphone
- Tubular Bells

Programme Notes

Palangos Orkestras commissioned the work for the Championship Section of the 2020 European Brass Band Championships in Palanga, Lithuania. Those championships were cancelled, and the piece was first heard as the set work at the 2024 European Championships, also in Palanga. Its title comes from Robert Frost’s poem The Road Not Taken, but the composer says the music is abstract, with no story.

Publisher’s programme note: Studio Music

Contest Use

Full contest history, including 7 own-choice uses: Brass Band Results

Works for Brass Band by This Composer

Partial list. Years not researched.

Original Works

Arrangements

Cuban Overture (George Gershwin) (1932 / 2010)
Toccata from Organ Symphony No 5 (Charles-Marie Widor)

Resources

Categories: Compositions | 2020 | Test Pieces

Suggest a correction to this page.

Sources

All read 8 November 2026.

Grade, commission: https://www.philipsparke.com/a-road-less-travelled-by
Publisher, catalogue number, score-and-parts price, grade, seller's difficulty label, 15:30 duration, composer's note (three movements without a break): https://studio-music.co.uk/amp500030-philip-sparke-brass-band-a-road-less-travelled-by
Score-only catalogue number and price: https://studio-music.co.uk/amp500130-philip-sparke-brass-band-a-road-less-travelled-by
Study-score catalogue number and price: https://studio-music.co.uk/amp500330-philip-sparke-brass-band-a-road-less-travelled-by
Year (© 2020), commission, movement titles, instrumentation and percussion (sample score): https://sastudiomusic.s3.eu-west-2.amazonaws.com/smf/pdf/AMP500030-Philip-Sparke-Brass-Band-A-Road-Less-Travelled-By.pdf
Contest Use (dates); year 2020; description: https://www.brassbandresults.co.uk/pieces/a-road-less-travelled-by
2020 cancellation, 2024 European set work, movement names: https://www.4barsrest.com/news/60090/sparke-rekindled-for-palanga
2026 National Final set work (Championship Section, Royal Albert Hall, 3 October), publisher, 16-minute duration, commission: https://4barsrest.com/news/63505/2026-national-finals-test-pieces-announced

Notes

Duration. Left empty. The composer's page gives no duration. Studio Music, which sells the work, gives 15:30; 4barsrest gives 16 minutes. Neither is the publisher's or composer's own figure.
Grade. Grade 6 is from the composer's site (Anglo Music Press is Sparke's own imprint). Studio Music also shows "Grade 6", alongside the seller's label "Difficulty F - Very Difficult", which is not used.
Year. 2020 is the copyright year on the sample score (© 2020 Anglo Music Press) and the year of the commission. Brass Band Results also gives 2020. The composer's page footer shows 2021, which looks like a site date, not the work's.
Premiere. Written for the 2020 European Championships in Palanga, which were cancelled because of Covid-19 after the music had been issued to the qualifying bands (4barsrest). The work was first played as the Championship Section set work at the 2024 European Championships in Palanga, on 4 May 2024 (Brass Band Results). That was a contest with many bands, so no single premiere band is given.
Contest Use. Brass Band Results also lists the European Championships of 2 May 2020 as a set-test use, with no results. 4barsrest says that contest was cancelled, so it is left out here. Countries are not given because no source states them.
Movements. Three movements, played without a break (composer's note on Studio Music; 4barsrest also names the three movements). Timings not found.
Instrumentation. From the publisher's sample score (first pages). It matches the standard band, with two Euphonium staves and three percussion staves. The percussion list is everything named in the 28 sample pages, which may not be the whole score.
Cost. Prices are from Studio Music, which sells the work. The study score is £15.99.
Media. No commercial recording found. A search for a 2024 European Championships CD found none.