Downes was born in Derby and studied at the Royal College of Music from 1922 to 1923 under Walter Alcock, Henry Ley, and Edgar Cook.
[2] During his time in America, Downes was influenced by the organ builder G. Donald Harrison and the harpsichordist Ralph Kirkpatrick, and other baroque music performers.
[1] He gave first performances on British soil of organ pieces by composers such as Darius Milhaud, Paul Hindemith and Arnold Schoenberg.
[1] Although the final result was still not wholly to his taste, lacking in some tonal colours which he would have preferred, it clearly pointed the way to the "modern" British organs such as those built by Grant, Degens and Bradbeer (see New College Oxford)[3] and Mander.
[1] His influence on students such as Dame Gillian Weir, Thomas Trotter, John Scott and Roucher du Toit is a matter of record.