Lu Yen

Who was Lu Yen?

Lu Yen was a Chinese-born Taiwanese composer.

Yen was educated in National Taiwan Normal University, Mannes College, City University of New York, and University of Pennsylvania. He received Taiwan's National Cultural Award in 1993 and 1998. As a pupil of William Jay Sydeman, Mario Davidovsky, George Rochberg and George Crumb, Lu was well known of his atonal writings combining counterpoint skills. George Rochberg commented that Lu's music "has a unique scent". Lu wrote in his article "My Artistic Journey" that he wished to write "music praising mother nature's great beauty and powers." During 1967-2008, Lu wrote 6 solo instrumental works, 70+ chamber ensemble works, 5 Chinese chamber works, 16 orchestral works, 1 Chinese orchestra piece, and 11 art songs. Among these works, there was a repeated theme about the sound of bell, which Lu always remembered from his childhood in the Jiangnan region of China. Two biographies were published in Taiwan, Lu Yen: A Cold Fire of Music, written by Taiwanese poet Chen Li in 1997 and A Poetic Journey of Nostalgia, by Canadian-Taiwanese composer Shyh-ji Chew and Taiwanese composer Janet Jieru Chen in 2004, both published by Taiwan’s China Times Publishing Co. Digitalization data of Lu’s art song manuscripts and analytic entries are available at Nation Music Archive and Taiwan Music Center of the National Center for Traditional Arts, Taipei, Taiwan. Soochow University, where Lu has taught music composition and counterpoint for 30 years, has a memorial room and a growing collection of Lu’s manuscripts. Lu’s music could be heard in albums published by Music Forum, International Society for Contemporary Music-Taiwan Section, Asian Composers League – Taiwanese Composers Association and National Taiwan Symphony Orchestra.