Sir John Dykes Bower (13 August 190529 May 1981) was an English cathedral organist who served in

Truro Cathedral The Cathedral of the Blessed Virgin Mary is a Church of England cathedral in the city of Truro, Cornwall. It was built between 1880 and 1910 to a Gothic Revival design by John Loughborough Pearson on the site of the parish church of St Mary. It i ...

Durham Cathedral The Cathedral Church of Christ, Blessed Mary the Virgin and St Cuthbert of Durham, commonly known as Durham Cathedral and home of the Shrine of St Cuthbert, is a cathedral in the city of Durham, County Durham, England. It is the seat of t ...

and

St Paul's Cathedral St Paul's Cathedral is an Anglican cathedral in London and is the seat of the Bishop of London. The cathedral serves as the mother church of the Diocese of London. It is on Ludgate Hill at the highest point of the City of London and is a Grad ...

Background

Bower was born in Gloucester into a musical family, a descendant of the hymn writer

John Bacchus Dykes John Bacchus Dykes (10 March 1823 – 22 January 1876) was an English clergyman and hymnwriter. Biography John Bacchus Dykes was born in Hull, England, the fifth child and third son of William Hey Dykes, a ship builder, later banker, an ...

. He was one of four brothers, including

Stephen Dykes Bower Stephen Ernest Dykes Bower (18 April 1903 – 11 November 1994) was a British church architect and Gothic Revival designer best known for his work at Westminster Abbey, Bury St Edmunds Cathedral and the Chapel at Lancing College. As an architect ...

, who became a famous church architect. He was educated at Cheltenham College and studied organ under Sir Herbert Brewer. He was an organ scholar at

Corpus Christi College, Cambridge Corpus Christi College (full name: "The College of Corpus Christi and the Blessed Virgin Mary", often shortened to "Corpus"), is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge. From the late 14th century through to the early 19th century ...

, where he was the John Stewart Rannoch scholarship in sacred music.

Church musician

Bower was the organist and choirmaster at

for more than 30 years, from 1936 to his retirement in 1968. Following his death in 1981, he was eulogised as "an austere perfectionist with a strong feeling for the big occasion." Major services he played included the Thanksgiving service after the Second World War and at the state funeral for Sir

Winston Churchill Sir Winston Leonard Spencer Churchill (30 November 187424 January 1965) was a British statesman, soldier, and writer who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom twice, from 1940 to 1945 Winston Churchill in the Second World War, dur ...

. He was also a sub-conductor at the coronations of both King George VI and Queen Elizabeth II. In 1953, he toured North America with the St Paul's choir and conducted a concert at the White House before President Dwight D. Eisenhower. From 1936 to 1969, Bower also served as organ professor at the Royal College of Music and was associate director of the Royal School of Church Music. Together with G.H.Knight, he co-edited the "revised edition" of '' Hymns Ancient and Modern'', which was published in 1950.

Career

He was organist of: *

, 1926–1929 *

New College, Oxford New College is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in the United Kingdom. Founded in 1379 by William of Wykeham in conjunction with Winchester College as its feeder school, New College is one of the oldest colleges at th ...

, 1929–1933 *

, 1933–1936Scholes, Percy A. (1970) ''The Oxford Companion to Music'', 10th ed. London: Oxford U. P.; p. 123b *

, 1936–1968

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bower, John Dykes 1905 births 1981 deaths People from Gloucester English classical organists British male organists Cathedral organists Hymnal editors Alumni of Corpus Christi College, Cambridge People educated at Cheltenham College Organists of New College, Oxford Knights Bachelor Commanders of the Royal Victorian Order Musicians awarded knighthoods 20th-century classical musicians 20th-century English musicians 20th-century organists 20th-century British male musicians Male classical organists