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what ever you want If you want to fit in the boring and cliché area I recommend as little change as possible. But to keep things interesting some transitional stuff works. check for example this great series of anayses of Bachs entire WTK book 1. This is a particular interesting vid on the C# min fugue:

Static harmony is boring and cliché?

It could mean that, but usually people who make comments that devoid of meaning are either obscenely arrogant or trolling, neither of which is useful to anyone in any sense. I wholly agree with this comment. I saw a perfect example of the latter type of critique among the compositions on this forum. The person doing the critiquing, no doubt, came out of the womb penning elegant strains and found it his God-given right to completely demean the other composer's work and ability. The people dishing the destructive criticism usually have such sensitive egos that they can't take criticism in return, even when it's actually well-meaning (a.k.a. constructive). It's my humble opinion that people who have gained success in a field should use those skills to mentor and build up other young composers who are pursuing the same dream, instead of trying to tear them down. Only then is their advice worth anything. ~rapunzel

Frankly, my answer is that it depends very much on the tone and content of this criticism. Because that is a very eloquent way to discern the true intention of whoever is making the critique. There's a difference between being rigorous, even blunt, and being plainly rude and insulting. Criticism aimed to point out my flaws (and why not, strenghts) and help me to improve as a composer is welcome. Sometimes I'll agree with it and attempt to correct these flaws (or to build on these strenghts), and otherwise I might disagree (most likely on aesthetic matters). But I'll certainly learn from that. On the other hand, criticism aimed only to discredit or to act out envy and jealousy must promptly be dismissed. I don't think Tchaikovsky found anything to build on from Hanslick's verbal abuse on his Violin Concerto, or that Rachmaninov thought that Cui was actually helping him when dubbing his First Symphony "a program symphony commissioned by Satan on the Ten Plagues of Egypt". Listen to the critics - but keep in mind what Sibelius said: "I have yet to see a statue of a critique".