A. Laurence Lyon

A. Laurence Lyon (1934–2006) was a prolific composer of music, usually sacred music with a Latter-day Saint theme. He also served for 30 years as a professor at Western Oregon University.

Lyon was born in Rotterdam, Netherlands where his father, T. Edgar Lyon was serving as president of the Netherlands Mission of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church).

Lyon was first called as an organist for a congregation of the LDS Church when he was 16 years old. He served as a LDS Church missionary in the Netherlands and directed the choir from that mission that sang at the dedication of the Swiss Temple.

After his mission, Lyon received a bachelor's degree from the University of Utah and a Ph.D. from the Eastman School of Music.

Lyon has been involved with the music for many LDS Church temple dedications. He wrote an arrangement of "The Morning Breaks" specifically for the dedication of the Oakland California Temple and directed choirs that performed at the dedications of the Portland Oregon Temple and the Seattle Washington Temple.

Two of Lyon's works are included in the 1985 edition of the LDS Church hymnbook. They are "Each Life That Touches Ours For Good" and "Saints, Behold How Great Jehovah".

References

*"Church News", 1998-06-06, p.Z4