The purpose of this treatise is to examine Robert Ward's three compositions for violin and piano in the hope that it will bring greater recognition to these important compositions. Through interviews with the author, this document presents insights from the perspective of both the performer and the composer. Ward's compositions have had many influences such as, in 1950, he wrote his Violin Sonata No. 1, which
implements the twelve-tone system. Thirty-eight years later he wrote Appalachian Ditties and Dances, which was inspired by the James Agee book, Let Us Now Praise Famous Men, and reflects the musical culture of the Appalachian mountain people. He wrote his Violin Sonata No. 2 in 1991, a work that uses a neo-romantic vocabulary and
cyclic structure. These works are representative of Ward's style, containing lyrical melodies, harmonies based on traditional thinking and energetic rhythms.
