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The oboe solo at 3:45 is really long and it's not obvious where the performer should take a breath because the melody is like a run-on sentence without clear structural delineations. Overall though you have some good ideas and the orchestration/instrumentation is quite idiomatic for the respective instruments. You do a good job of creating an atmosphere of desolation and deep melancholy. The open fifth tremolo in the violins is also quite dramatic and sets the stage for the mood you chose to create. Also, because the piece is in 3/4 it can't really function as a march per se. Marches are in 4/4 or 2/2 time and are usually a bit more martial and at walking tempo. Your piece is much too slow to march to even if you split the bar in two. And it's too fast if you were to take a step on each 8th note. The only thing in this piece that reminds the listener that it should be a march is the timpani - it works well to create a dramatic and repetitive/hypnotic aura though - I'm not saying you should remove it. Another thing is that the piece stays the same mood throughout and there's very little contrast - the piece is just one long section almost. But I guess that was your goal when you set out to compose a piece about death - it can just get a little tiresome sometimes. It could stand to be shortened or made more concise somehow if you ever re-work and feel like making it more interesting (of course you don't have to). Anyways - thanks for sharing! Overall I think you succeeded at writing a piece about death if not exactly a march!

It's down to perceptions. If I wanted to write something that sounded good I'd first gauge what sounds good to that particular audience then try to emulate it: analyse its qualities and apply them. A good example is Epic film music. I'd listen to it, take a guess at the orchestration, ask people about things like reverb and production; buy a decent sample library and daw. (I hate modern corporatised film music so rarely enjoy the proud efforts of those who present it LOL). Then I'd find a way of testing the reception of what I've written. If I wanted my music to sound good to a "classical" or romantic audience I'd learn good CPP, practice writing coherent tunes and study the scores of the greats to learn their orchestral technique. What sounds good to an Adele fan probably wouldn't to a Mahler fan and vice versa. The audience for my music is small. I'm obviously pleased when someone claims they like it but it doesn't matter if people don't. Question is, am I satisfied; is the piece as I hoped?