Sir John Dykes Bower (13 August 190529 May 1981) was an English cathedral organist who served in Truro Cathedral, Durham Cathedral and St Paul's Cathedral.Watkins Shaw. The Succession of Organists
Background Bower was born in Gloucester into a musical family, a descendant of the hymn writer John Bacchus Dykes. He was one of four brothers, including Stephen Dykes Bower, 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, where he was awarded the John Stewart Rannoch scholarship in sacred music.
Church musician Bower was the organist and choirmaster at St Paul's Cathedral for more than 30 years, from 1936 to his retirement in 1968."The Change at Saint Paul's Cathedral" (PDF). The Diapason. 59 (2): 2. January 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.
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.
Hymn tune 'Lanteglos' to the hymn 'Lord that descendest, Holy Child' (Hymns Ancient & Modern New Standard #398)
Career He was organist of: Truro Cathedral, 1926–1929 New College, Oxford, 1929–1933 Durham Cathedral, 1933–1936Scholes, Percy A. (1970) The Oxford Companion to Music, 10th ed. London: Oxford U. P.; p. 123b St Paul's Cathedral, 1936–1968
References