Adagio Lamentoso (dedicated to Gustav mahler)

True, it is related a la thematic material. What I meant was that the change was so drastic that it seems completely different from the rest, so much so that is sounds unrelated. A smother transition would help and a bit more low-range stuff would make it sound more cohesive. It's just so drastic that I was caught off guard, which is not what one should do in a slow and pensive piece like this unless you plan to bring it back later.

Sorry to be a bit of a party pooper, but I personally don't see the point of writing a piece in such a derivative Mahlerian idiom. Why would one want to go back to a musical aesthetic of the past? What's the point of doing again what Mahler has already done (and done better) more than a century ago? Isn't it a more natural thing for a composer to express himself according to the coordinates of his time and try to search for an original musical language?

Don't get me wrong, Bmiranda, I'm not bashing you as a composer. The musical writing is definitely skillfully done and you have succeeded in getting very close to Mahler's musical aesthetic. But I just don't understand why someone would want to imitate the language of Mahler in the first place (or, for that matter, the language of any other composer), except for the sake of stylistic exercise.

Why not? If Mahler is the paradigm of Bmiranba's musical tastes and thus compositional expression, why shouldn't he "copy" Mahler's style? Most composers try to find their own voice by imitating others and often blending other styles to make their own. For example, my style is a cup of Tchaikovsky, with a chunk of Mahler, a dash of Holst, and perhaps a splash of Strauss. Sprinke with Stravinsky and Rimsky-Korsakov, bake for 58 years = Justin Tokke's style.

Composing is not inventing, it is taking what came before and making anew. I will quote the ever impudent Stravinsky: "A good composer does not imitate; he steals."

I personally didn't enjoy it. That may have been because of the 'recording' quality, I'm not sure. Certainly I'm not one to equate personal tastes with quality. I think you did well imitating Mahler. I also find it odd to imitate the past composers; however, I'm more perturbed by people who write more than one piece in such a style. Certainly, there can be advantages to writing a piece in Mahlerian style, or a Bach Fugue. But to write more than one piece in another composer's style is dangerous and sometimes counterproductive. That doesn't necessarily apply to this piece, just food for thought.

Regarding the actual piece, I think you extracted the essence of Mahler well enough. I think I should reserve any further comments until the piece is performed by actual musicians and given the inflections that would normally happen.