Thanks for listening, dogperson. I'm very glad you found a new composer you like!
Yes, the phrasing is how I wanted it, since I intended a delayed yearning romanticism for the middle section of the piece. There's another recording I know of that plays that section at double the tempo and is more straight-forward and I don't like it as much. Thanks for the octave fingering suggestion. I didn't find the octaves difficult with this piece (the left hand jumps were more difficult), but that is certainly good advice in general. Thanks, again!