Christmas adagio

Christmas adagio movement for string quartet and organ ad libitum. It was originally meant as a middle movement of a Christmas fantasia, but I never wrote the other movements and I don't think I'll ever do it, so now I post this piece as a stand-alone piece.
In this work I employed melodies and motifs from two polish christmas carols - Jezus malusieńki (violin 1 & 2) and Mizerna cicha (viola). Hopefully the piece will be performed this Christmas

Great job!  I am Polish and so familiar with the carols you mentioned (or at least Jezus malusienki - I had to look up Mizerna cicha).  I think you did a really great job with this!  I am puzzled why you have the organ and contrabass an octave apart - they both are octave transposing instruments (meaning the low foot pedals of the organ and the contrabass both sound an octave lower than written).  I like the contrast you introduce between arco and pizzicato in the bass.  By the way - this is almost a double fugue as far as the counterpoint is concerned.  Well done!

Would you mind featuring this piece in the Christmas Music Event?  Just post a link to this piece as a reply in the thread I just linked if you're interested!  We'd be glad to have you!

This is fantastic! Your fugue is really well done and I love the melody. Great time signature too, we need more 12/8 rhythms in the world. However, please be careful about unnecessary instrumentation.

As a composer, in general you should be mindful of instrumentation and instrument play times

I feel like you could have done away with the organ here. Think about it. When you are trying to get a performance, do you want an organist to be on standby just to play a few lines? The same goes for the viola. You want to make sure you give the viola some decent play time in your composition, otherwise nix the instrument. The thing is, the viola is a beautiful instrument, and you employ it nicely. So why not give it more playing time?

Beautiful composition. Although I would try to clean some dissonances by seconds here and there: m. 5, m. 11-12...

I'd love if you added this to the Christmas event that Peter linked above!

The counterpoint in this piece is excellent. But the soundfont really does not do it justice! I wonder if you might be able to find a better one online.

I'll echo what is said above about the use of viola and organ. I think the organist would end up just doubling the string lines as much as possible throughout, just to fill out the texture. The few bars where the organ plays then seem to stick out. With regards to the viola, perhaps the 1st violin line from about the end of bar 12 to bar 16 could be moved onto the viola part. The colour would darken a little, making the filling out at bar 17 more effective. And it would give your 1st violinist a rest and make it worth paying a violist!

Great work, loved your counterpoint and the development throughout the piece. Thanks for sharing!

This piece was written for me (viola) and my friends (who play violins, double bass and organ) to perform during a christmas concert, that's why the instrumentation is a little strange. Also this was intended as a middle movement of a bigger work - but when the concert was cancelled I gave up writing the other movements

Thank you all for your support!