[1][2] Bower was born in Gloucester into a musical family, a descendant of the hymn writer John Bacchus Dykes.
[2] He was one of four brothers, including Stephen Dykes Bower, who became a famous church architect.
He was an organ scholar at Corpus Christi College, Cambridge, where he was the John Stewart Rannoch scholarship in sacred music.
[2] Bower was the organist and choirmaster at St Paul's Cathedral for more than 30 years, from 1936 to his retirement in 1968.
In 1953, he toured North America with the St Paul's choir and conducted a concert at the White House before President Dwight D.