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Thank you for the comments Monarcheon! I apologize for the poor quality of the MIDI. I try to refine it as much as I think is reasonable, but it always sounds off and there are playback problems I seem to miss until I put out the mp3. Thanks for the advice on clefs. It hadn't occurred to me that a clef change would be any different from an 8vb marking, but from what you said it seems like it would make a difference. I'll remember that in the future. And the G# at the beginning of solstice is a little jarring. It is possible that it really doesn't belong there, as it's really just a leftover from a very early version of that movement which was mostly scrapped.

I love it! I'm a sucker for French impressionism myself, so the clear influence of Ravel and Debussy really attracts me. There's not much I can hear that others haven't pointed out, but this is definitely a piece to be proud of.

I don't remember hearing this before. It's very atmospheric in the impressionist style with those half diminished chords, as was noted. I hear also a bit of The Firebird hear and there. Also some very nice original flourishes around 7:15. Good orchestral balance overall. Do you write with or without a piano?

Austenite, thanks so much for your comments. I am also not a fan of Elizabethan music. I never seek it out, I don't keep any on hand, and I have no desire at all to study it or start listening to it now. But for this competition I never would have gotten the idea to write in such a style. But it was fun! And I learned a lot about the harp. I don't know if you know this, but Beethoven was an excellent improviser and he often had to play the salons and sometimes share the stage with dilettantes and one trick ponies that somehow had gained favor with the aristocracy. So in a sort of 19th century "battle of the bands" Beethoven followed one such rising star on the piano. The crowd loved him - the dilettante - then it was Beethoven's turn. He grabbed a cellist's music, put it on the piano and turned it upside down. Then he played its crude little melody and improvised on it for fifteen minutes. Well, everyone knew what had just happened. Beethoven just proved that he could take a piece of crap and make something good out of it. This kind of thing inspires me because it's not the source material that is important. It's what happens when its developed. Inspiring, right?