Festival Prelude ‘Ad Excel’ was commissioned by the AD Concert Band, from Solihull in the UK, to celebrate their 40th Anniversary in 2016. The title, Ad Excel, is a play on words: it is Latin for ‘to excel’ but also celebrates the band’s anniversary as XL is 40 in Roman numerals. The work opens with a bright fanfare with frequent changes of meter. This leads to a playful main subject, played first by woodwinds, followed by full band. A bridge passage leads to a legato second subject, played twice. The bridge passage returns to introduce the both main melodies in new keys and instrumentations before a coda, derived from the opening fanfare, brings the work to a close.
| Instrument (fx guitar, sang m.m.) | Big Band & Concert Band |
| Genrer (Fx Pop, Rock, Børn m.m.) | Koncert |
| Niveau | Medium |
| Sideantal | 169 |
| Series | Anglo Music Midway Series |
| Publisher/Producent | Anglo Music Press |
| Bidragydere | Sparke, Philip(Composer) |
| Sprog | Engelsk, Fransk, Holland, Tysk |
| ISMN | 9790708145523 |