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The Road Not Taken: SSA Choral Octavo

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The Road Not Taken Cover Image
The Road Not Taken: SSA Choral Octavo

The Road Not Taken: SSA Choral Octavo

Words by Robert Frost, music by Victor C. Johnson

Item: 00-48475
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Description
This beloved Robert Frost poem presents a memorable metaphor about life choices. Victor Johnson's contemporary setting explores subtle nuances of the text through the thoughtful use of melodic line, harmonic color, musical expression, and word stress. A perfect pathway for exploring all the tools of the choral art. This title is available in MakeMusic Cloud.

Don't just read it, hear it, play along with it, and watch your students grow with it. In MakeMusic Cloud, The Road Not Taken: SSA Choral Octavo comes alive with professional accompaniment, adjustable tempo, and built-in practice tools that turn solo practice into real progress.

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Additional Details
Series: Alfred Choral Designs
Publisher: Alfred Music
Page Count: 12
UPC: 038081552989
SKU: 00-48475

More about this title

About the Composer: Victor C. Johnson

Victor C. Johnson

Victor C. Johnson brings deep choral leadership experience to his work as School Choral Editor for Sing!, the educational publishing division of Choristers Guild. A Dallas native, he has composed and arranged over 500 choral works, vocal solos, and keyboard pieces currently in publication, establishing himself as a prolific voice in contemporary choral music.

Johnson spent eighteen years as choral director at Ft. Worth Academy of Fine Arts, where he led the Academy Singers and Academy Men's Choir while serving as Artistic Director of both the Singing Girls of Texas and Children's Choir of Texas. Since 2022, he has conducted the Dallas Symphony Children's Chorus Mixed Ensemble, the resident children's choir for the Dallas Symphony Orchestra. His professional involvement spans the American Choral Directors Association, American Guild of Organists, Texas Music Educators Association, National Association for Music Education, and ASCAP.

Why we love this

Johnson captures the meditative power of Frost's poem without sentimentality, using contemporary harmonic language to illuminate the speaker's internal conflict. The writing reveals itself gradually through rehearsal, rewarding groups that invest time in text clarity and phrase shaping. This is a piece that grows richer with attention to detail, making it ideal for developing musicians who are ready to connect musical choices to poetic meaning.

What to expect

The piece unfolds with quiet introspection, its contemporary harmonic palette creating moments of gentle tension and resolution that mirror the speaker's quiet deliberation. There's an unhurried quality to the music, inviting singers and listeners into contemplation without melodrama. The overall effect is intimate and thoughtful, capturing something essential about how we sit with difficult choices.

Who it's for

This octavo works beautifully for upper-level high school choirs and college treble choirs seeking substantive literature that honors both poem and musical craft. Advanced middle school ensembles with strong musicianship can also access it with thorough preparation. It suits directors who prioritize text as the foundation for musical decision-making.

How to get the most out of it

  • Honor the natural conversational rhythm of the text by shaping phrases around word stress rather than downbeats; this grounds the music in Frost's language and prevents it from feeling artificially imposed.
  • Layer harmonic awareness into early rehearsals so singers understand how color shifts signal emotional turning points in the poem; this context helps them invest in intonation and blend without overexplaining.
  • Balance the contemporary harmonic language with clear vowel unity across all three voices, particularly in slower passages where exposed sonorities expose any drift in vowel modification.

How to use it

Place this alongside other literature that explores choice, consequence, or reflection for a cohesive concert theme, or program it as a solo selection where audience members can hear the full arc of Frost's argument without distraction. It serves equally well in a contest setting where judges value artistic maturity and text integration.

Skills your students will build

  • Connecting musical expression to poetic meaning and text stress
  • Balancing contemporary harmonic language with clarity and blend
  • Shaping long phrases across exposed harmonic changes
  • Interpreting ambiguity in both text and music
  • Sustaining focus through introspective, slower repertoire

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