Thank you very much, @J. Lee Graham! I'm very happy that you enjoyed my piece and playing!
I, too, am one of those who think that keys have personalities. I think that each key has its own emotions that are intertwined within its scale, even if all major and minor scales follow the same patterns. And I agree with your sentiments of E-flat minor: your description is apt for that key. At the time of writing this piece, I wanted to try writing in keys that aren't commonly written for, in this case, E-flat minor.
Yes, indeed, Rachmaninoff was a major influence on this piece. Rachmaninoff is one of my heroes in music, and this was becoming apparent around the time of composing this piece.
Again, thank you for your compliments and appreciation. It means a lot to me.
All the best,
Theo