Welcome @gussiefinknottle, yes as you say it is first improvised and then developed as a musical form. And wow, yes, this is mahlers motif from the beginning of the "klagendes Lied", I wasn't aware of that. But I love mahlers music it is fantastic and I definitely am inspired by the german romantic composers, so perhaps I am using some motifs in a similar way intuitively. Thank you very much for your insightful reply!