The Oort Cloud

I'd been thinking about doing a reduced version of a very old piece of mine, "The Oort Cloud," for a long time. I believe it was the first piece I posted here three/four years ago (which I've since deleted). It was interesting to go back through the "orchestral score" and see how much I've learned since then, and it was a challenge to keep it interesting with the limited instrumentation (not to mention the total absence of a second theme).

I tried my best to use some minimalist techniques [subtle changing of rhythms and intense repetition, which is pretty much my entire knowledge of the genre ] and some more contemporary tonal and harmonic language than what I usually go for. Since this isn't really my wheelhouse, I'm happy to hear any thoughts, suggestions, criticism, etc. Thanks for listening!

EDIT: Also, for those that may be confused by the title: the Oort Cloud is the outermost ring of gas, dust, and other interstellar debris that is theorized to circle around our sun at an extreme distance, even beyond the dwarf planets, asteroids and other (larger) objects of the Kuiper Belt.

Edited May 12, 20178 yr by Noah Brode
Explanation of title

The section at m. 29 really stood out to me as inventive and beautiful!
A double stop grace note might be a little frowned upon.
Concerning the section at 37, a good way to keep interest is to switch between tremolo and gap trills so it remains unsettling while providing contrast within the section itself.
I think the end could have been expanded a bit in this new version, maybe with a couple stops here and there to reflect, but overall this piece is really nice. Good job.

Thanks @Monarcheon! Your suggestions are all very spot-on. I think the tremolo section is the weakest of the piece, so I'll have to play with that a bit. A more expansive coda would help ground the whole thing too.