Amazing production value and a strong, dramatic composition. Congrats!

I love the warm strings at the beginning. Has a great cinematic vibe, and the build-up into :35 was really nice. You're really tugging at my heartstrings by the time the soft piano starts at :38. Seems like a lot of the piece is quite transitory rather than producing cathartic content, but that's probably my only complaint. Of course, the cathartic content starts coming at the cello solo, and there's a great sense of energy coursing through the texture after that. The texture is so rich and lovely towards the end. Strong sense of emotion and storytelling with this one. Keep up the great work, Jon!

A bit of clipping here and there, but you nonetheless have me wondering why the hell you haven't done the music to a big film yet or something... I love it. You poured your heart and soul into this. I feel it (and I know you do too), and I hope you go big someday.

And this. Is music.

So I will start out with why I only am giving it a 4.5 rating. One, I can't give it a 4.85, so I blame it partially on the rating system. 2. The point at 1:30 was such an explosion of power that it seemed little out of place. The Cello seemed like it knew where it was going and was going to lead the pack in this grand climax and instead of everything crescendo into this point but, when it came the violins and rest of the strings, it fell short, almost as if they dropped out, while the rest of the orchestra immediately started at a Fortissimo.

Now on the plus side, the piece thoroughly accomplished what you set out to do. I had a sense of grandeur and adventure whilst listening, and after reading your comments on the piece the pieces started to fit together. Now, I criticized it up top but I will say that the explosion at the 1:30 mark makes sense for what you are trying to accomplish, after having read your description. The music truly made this an adventure worth experiencing. Bravo.