The ‘Energy’ Sonata was composed for Elisabeth Adkins and Edward Newman, a renowned violin and piano duo. The idea was to create a work that would draw inspiration from TCU’s theme for the year: Energy. In the first movement, ‘Flow,’ the piano focuses on relentless scalar lines, while the violin plays at times lyrical, and other times forceful passages. The middle movement, Whirl, is entirely made up of original folk-like melodies, and is designed to sound like a modern arrangement of tunes, similar to what Béla Bartók did in the early 20th century in his many folk arrangements. The final movement begins with a prelude, much like a slow chorale; the quiet energy in this introduction prepares us for the ‘Tornado’ of the rest of the piece. Modal lines of canonic counterpoint in the piano are echoed in the violin, and when the complex contrapuntal texture breaks, what emerges is a jazz-like section, followed by quiet, slow repose and then a violin cadenza; finally, a return to the faster material brings the piece to a rousing finale. The ‘Energy’ Sonata explores energy in various forms and implications, a story of natural forces told in music.