Hi Evan!
I enjoyed this movement of your piece very much. It makes me think "film music" because of the drama and the many colors you create. I was pleased at how you set a mood and some thematic material and were very consistent with the development of it while not losing focus on your goal for the movement.
The solo moments were very nice, the english horn opening was very effective.
I can see that you put a lot of time and effort into writing this. I like how the entire thing flows - it has a nice framework. The only suggestions I'd have would be detail work - for instance on page 8 + after the fermata I can appreciate the mood you are going for and you could still achieve that while adding some complexity - maybe some fragments of your main motives in very subtle ways (ie. with percussion, you did some nice things with glock/vibes earlier in the piece) - just some sparkles so that it doesn't seem too static with the block chords. It could give many areas of the piece some character unique to you and your writing.
Also, I worry about where the piccolo will breathe during all those runs on pages 6-8. Do you mind if the player drops out periodically to breathe? And as for the other woodwinds with the "noodling" parts (
) it can sometimes help to give them overlapping notes at the end of each figure so that they match up when they pass the part back and forth. And it sounds loverly too.
I think you have a great foundation set here. I look forward to seeing where this piece goes.
I am rusty and have not been at the boards for a bit of time. Are you a composition and/or music major?
yay composing.
-Giselle