I composed Piano Sonata No. 1 in C Major during a particularly difficult time in my life. I have struggled with insomnia and chronic fatigue for a number of years, but it became more pronounced as I went through college, climaxing during my junior year. While waiting for narcolepsy test results, I began to consider composing a piece to help me to deal with the many emotions I was experiencing. At the time, my music history class was studying Enlightenment forms, and I was particularly struck by the Piano Sonata, which seemed the ideal medium to express my frustration and weariness. I. Allegro-The first movement represents a day in the life. As per standard Sonata-Allegro form, the exposition introduces all of the melodic material. The development section follows the ebb and flow of energy experienced throughout the day. Sometimes there is energy, sometimes it must be forced, while at other times there is none at all. The use of offbeat accents throughout the movement gives the impression that the music is pushing itself forward, forcing itself to be energetic. II. Andante-I composed the second movement a year earlier than the rest of the piece and in a slightly different form. It was originally title "Sleep Like Glass" and was created as an aid for my insomnia. The movement is in F major, the subdominant of C major, although the tonal center is not strongly felt. The movement is a picture of sleep. The beginning of the movement illustrates the process of falling asleep, as illustrated by the music’s tension and subsequent release. After that comes a moody theme of rolling major and minor seconds in the lower register. A short, descending melody is played several times over the rolling seconds. This theme represents the state of being asleep and appears three times throughout the movement. The second statement of the theme separates two dreamscapes. During both dream sequences, the lower register is very repetitive, almost hypnotic. Portions of the first dream bleed into the second, as happens when we try to remember real dreams. The movement concludes with a restatement of the sleep theme. Since sleep never feels resolved or completed, the final cadence ends on an inverted I chord, providing a clear ending, but still containing an unresolved tension. III. Moderato-The third and final movement is in Rondo form (ABACABA-Coda). This portion of the piece begins in A minor, the relative minor of the overarching C major. It represents my difficulty waking up in the morning, due to sleep paralysis. In the A section, the lower register is playing a Baroque gigue rhythm, indicating what should be happening in the morning, i.e. getting up and moving. The upper register refuses to comply and defies the rhythm set down in the lower register. It is frustrated, restless, and groggy. The B section contains an alarm going off. The lower register represents a person jumping out of bed to turn off the alarm while the alarm is played in the upper register. The two hands overlap and the alarm is silenced while the lower register runs back down to bed. The C section represents my roommate in the morning, who is portrayed as much happier than I am. There are moments where he is quiet and helpful, others where he is loudly pacing and accidentally making loud noises before catching himself. In the end, the piece resolves back to C major. The two hands begin an ascending line, indicating that I have gotten out of bed. There is then a brief celebration before the piece ends with the same notes in each hand that began the first movement of the piece, indicating the cyclical nature of the condition.