This is awesome, I love it.
- I like the voice sample mixed with the ambient sounds at the start, really nice
- The use of instruments such as the ones at 0:28 / 0:41 is very effective. It immediately makes me think of The Last Samurai soundtrack
- 0:46 is a cool idea but it feels really empty. I am not quite sure what the problem is
- I fully agree with your point about the strings at 0:53
- The transition at 1:20 works rather well and the following section is great
- The rest is pretty excellent, I really can't criticise.
- The ending doesn't do the rest of the piece justice though that doesn't make it bad.
- A very small thing: your strings and trumpet fade out at different rates at the end
Sorry for the lack of any meaty feedback. It's difficult to be objective when you really enjoy something.