Kevin Bowyer

Kevin John Bowyer (born 9 January 1961) is an English organist, known for his prolific recording and recital career and his performances of modern and extremely difficult compositions.

Biography
Bowyer was born on 9 January 1961 in Southend-on-Sea, England. He sang in a choir and learnt the piano accordion and organ as a child. When the church where he practised refused to let him carry on practising, he says: "I went and had a key cut to the church and I got in anyway." He attended Cecil Jones High School in Southend, and studied at the Royal Academy of Music from 1979 to 1982 with organists Christopher Bowers-Broadbent and Douglas Hawkridge, harpsichordist Virginia Black, and Paul Steinitz. After graduation, he studied for two years with David Sanger after winning a Countess of Munster Musical Trust scholarship. When given a list of music to prepare at his first meeting with Sanger, he did not realise that it was a term's work and had learnt it all by the next week.

Aside from playing the organ, he reads modernist literature, especially James Joyce, Samuel Beckett and the Powys family.

Repertoire and performances
While a student, he performed the complete organ symphonies of Charles-Marie Widor, Louis Vierne and Marcel Dupré (none of which he has yet recorded), and the complete organ music of Olivier Messiaen. He was able to do this because, he says, "When I was 21, I developed a technique that allowed me to learn a French organ symphony every month" and "always started at the end and then worked backwards." His debut recital was at the Royal Festival Hall in 1984.

He has won the following competitions:
 * St Albans International Organ Festival 1983 (neither 2nd nor 3rd prize was awarded that year)
 * Odense International Organ Competition 1990
 * Paisley International Organ Festival 1990
 * Dublin International Organ and Choral Festival 1990
 * Calgary International Organ Festival 1990

He has performed and broadcast all over the world, and has released around ninety recordings, including all of Bach's organ music for the Nimbus recording label. His recital repertoire is enormous and ever expanding; in an article restricted to European 20th-century classical music for the organ, he mentions over 100 composers whose music he has played. Though he sees contemporary music as his vocation, he plays organ music from the Renaissance and Baroque periods onwards, and has shown an appreciation for the qualities of historical instruments in such music.

He is the only person to have played and recorded Kaikhosru Sorabji's First Organ Symphony in its entirety.

"That it [Sorabji's First Organ Symphony] is finally becoming known, more than sixty years later [than it was published, in 1925], is due entirely to the uniquely enterprising spirit, astounding prowess and unending and unbending patience and dedication of the most outstanding organist of his generation, who, in his continuing work in preparing for performance and recording Sorabji's Second and Third Organ Symphonies (which of necessity includes fair-copying them longhand), is singlehandedly rewriting the history of organ music since Liszt."

He was organist of the Parish of Warwick from 1989 until 1998; during this time, he taught around the country for the St Giles International Organ School. In 2005 he was appointed university organist at the University of Glasgow (with access to the Harrison & Harrison/Willis organ in the University Memorial Chapel), while continuing his teaching career at the Royal Northern College of Music in Manchester and the Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama in Glasgow. New projects include the annual Glasgow International Organ Festival and Glasgow Pipeworks series of recitals of new music for organ.

On learning music, he says: "I practise bits and pieces of it over and over again until my fingers are moving faster than my brain, then I home in on what is difficult and link these with the easier passages, but the easier passages are still no less learned than the difficult ones. Sometimes it's necessary to practise for twelve to fourteen hours a day, during which you need to keep your mind alert." A particular example has been when he had to learn Niccolo Castiglioni's Sinfonia Guerriere et Amorose, 41 minutes of "nearly unplayable music. [...] I set my mind to encompass it in an eight-day learning period, a frame-work the piece naturally slipped into."

Since 2008 he has been able, with the support of the Glasgow University Trust, to be engaged almost exclusively in preparing for performances of Sorabji's three organ symphonies, the difficulties of which he describes thus:

"In my career as a player of contemporary organ music I've played most of the notorious, 'super-difficult' pieces—Iannis Xenakis' Gmeeoorh, Brian Ferneyhough's Sieben Sterne, Niccolò Castiglioni's Sinfonie Guerriere et Amorose, etc. Sorabji's First Organ Symphony makes all those pieces look like grade 2 finger exercises. And Organ Symphony 2 makes Organ Symphony 1 look like—a grade 2 finger exercise."

The lengths are also considerable: the Second Symphony alone is over an hour longer than Messiaen's complete organ music put together. The Second Symphony was premiered in 2010 and there were several postponements due to the difficulty of learning it. The Third Organ Symphony is expected to be premiered in 2022. Bowyer has also produced new typeset editions of Sorabji's three organ symphonies.

Recordings

 * J. S. Bach: Complete organ works – 29 CDs (17 volumes) Bach recordings: Marcussen organ of Sct. Hans Kirke, Odense, Denmark.

Volume 1 (NI 5280)
Toccata and Fugue in D minor (BWV 565) Aus tiefer Not schrei ich zu dir (BWV 1099) Concerto in G (after Prince Johann Ernst) (BWV 592) Trio Sonata I in E flat (BWV 525) Pastorella in F (BWV 590) Ebarm dich mein, o Herre Gott (BWV 721) Fantasia and Fugue in G minor (BWV 542)

Volume 2 (NI 5289)
Prelude and Fugue in G (BWV 541) Trio Sonata V in C (BWV 529) Ein feste Burg ist unser Gott (BWV 720) Fugue in G ("Jig" Fugue) (BWV 577) Prelude and Fugue in A (BWV 536) Vom Himmel hoch da komm ich her (BWV 738) In dulci jubilo (BWV 751) In dulci jubilo (BWV 729) Gelobet seist du, Jesu Christ (BWV 697) Gelobet seist du, Jesu Christ (BWV 722) Prelude and Fugue in D (BWV 532)

Volume 3 (NI 5290)
Prelude and Fugue in F minor (BWV 534) Trio Sonata II in C minor (BWV 526) Partite diverse sopra Sei gegrüßet, Jesu gütig (BWV 768) Concerto in D minor (after Vivaldi) (BWV 596) Prelude and Fugue in A minor (BWV 543)

Volume 4 (NI 5377)
Toccata in G minor (BWV 915) Fugue in B minor on a theme by Albinoni (BWVB 951) Fugue in C minor (BWV 575) Eight "Short" Preludes and Fugues (BWV 553-560) Fantasia and Imitatio in B minor (BWV 563) Fugue in A on a theme by Albinoni (BWV 950) Toccata in G (BWV 916)

Volume 5 (NI 5400)
Concerto in A minor (after Vivaldi) (BWV 593) Prelude and Fugue in D minor (BWV 539) Herr Gott, dich loben wir (Te Deum) (BWV 725) Fugue in G (BWV 576) Aria in F (after François Couperin) (BWV 587) Christ lag in Todesbanden (BWV 718) Jesus, meine Zuversicht (BWV 728) Christ ist erstanden (BWV 746) Toccata and Fugue in F (BWV 540)

Volume 6 (NI 5423)
Toccata, Adagio and Fugue in C (BWV 564) Trio Sonata VI in G (BWV 530) Prelude and Fugue in E minor (BWV 533) Trio in G minor (BWV 584) Prelude and Fugue in G minor (BWV 535) Fantasia super Valet will ich dir geben (BWV 735) Valet will ich dir geben (BWV 736) Partita: Wenn wir in hochsten Noten sein (BWV Anh. 78) Toccata in E (BWV 566)

Volume 7 (NI 5457/8)
Das Orgelbüchlein (BWV 599-644) (with Det Fynske Kammerchor)

Volume 8 (NI 5500/1)
Fugue in C minor on a theme by Legrenzi (BWV 574) Concerto in F (after Vivaldi) (BWV 978) Liebster Jesu, wir sind hier (BWV 731) Herr Jesu Christ, dich zu uns wend (BWV 709) Herr Jesu Christ, dich zu uns wend (BWV 726) Prelude and Fugue in B minor (BWV 544) Gott ist mein Heil, mein Hilf und Trost (BWV 1106) Herzlich lieb hab ich dich, o Herr (BWV 1115) Was Gott tut, das ist wohlgetan (BWV 1116) Trio Sonata in G (BWV 1039/1027a) Prelude and Fugue in C (BWV 547) Prelude and Fugue in C (BWV 531) An Wasserflüssen Babylon (BWV 653b) Wir glauben all' an einen Gott (BWV 765) Wir glauben all' an einen Gott (BWV 1098) Fantasia and Fugue in C minor (BWV 537) Six "Schübler" Chorale Preludes (BWV 645-650) Prelude and Fugue in A minor (BWV 895) Toccata and Fugue in D minor, "Dorian" (BWV 538)

Volume 9 (NI 5561/2)
Clavierübung, part III (BWV 552, 669-689, 802-805) Concerto in G (after Vivaldi) (BWV 973) Fugue in G minor (BWV 578) Passacaglia and Fugue in C minor (BWV 582)

Volume 10 (NI 5573/4)
Eighteen "Leipzig" Chorale Preludes (BWV 651-668) Fugue in A (BWV 949) Wenn dich Unglück tut greifen an (BWV 1104) Wie nach einer Wasserquelle (BWV 1119) Ach Gott, tu dich erbarmen (BWV 1109) Als Jesus Christus in der Nacht (BWV 1108) Concerto in C (after Vivaldi) (BWV 594)

Volume 11 (NI 5606/7)
Toccata in C minor (BWV 911) Trio in B minor (BWV 790(a)) Wer nur den lieben Gott läßt walten (BWV 691) Wer nur den lieben Gott läßt walten (BWV 690) Nun lob meine Seele den Herren (BWV Anh. 60) Wir glauben all an einen Gott (BWV Anh. 70) Fugue in B minor on a theme by Corelli (BWV 579) Das Jesulein soll doch mein Trost (BWV 702) Machs mit mire, Gott, nach deiner Güt (BWV 957) Herr Gott, nun schleuß den Himmel auf (BWV 1092) Nun laßt uns den Leib begraben (BWV 1111) Christus, der ist mein Leben (BWV 1112) Ich hab mein Sach Gott heimgestellt (BWV 1113) Alle Menschen müssen sterben (BWV 1117) Prelude and Fugue in C (BWV 943/953) Christe, der du bist Tag und Licht (BWV 1096) Werde munter, meine Gemüte (BWV 1118) Nun ruhen alle Wälder (BWV 756) Toccata in E minor (BWV 914) Prelude and Fugue in E minor ("Wedge") (BWV 548) Partita: Ach was ist doch unser leben (BWV 743) Herr Christ, der einig Gottes Sohn (BWV Anh. 55) Meine Seele erheb't den Herren (BWV 733) Canonic Variations on Vom Himmel Hoch (BWV 769) Fantasia and Fugue in A minor (BWV 904) Trio in D minor (BWV 583) Prelude and Fugue in C minor (BWV 546)

Volume 12 (NI 5647/8)
Fantasia in G major (BWV 572) Trio Sonata IV in E minor (BWV 528) Fantasia and Fugue in C major (BWV 570/946) Toccata in F sharp minor (BWV 910) Aria Variata in A minor (BWV 989) A Little Harmonic Labyrinth (BWV 591) Fuga chromatisch bearbeitet (BWV Anh. 44) Fugue in G minor (BWV 131a) Allabreve in D (BWV 589) Fantasia in G major (BWV 571) Prelude and fugue in G (BWV 550) Vom Himmel hoch da komm ich her (BWV 700) Vom Himmel hoch da komm ich her (BWV 701) Wir Christenleut (BWV 1090) Wir Christenleut habn jetzund Freud (BWV 710) Capriccio in E (BWV 993) Fantasia and fugue (fragment) in C minor (BWV 562) Partita super Allein Gott in der Höh sei Ehr (BWV 771) Trio Sonata III in D minor (BWV 527) Prelude and fugue in C (BWV 545)

Volume 13 (NI 5669/70)
Partita: O Gott, du frommer Gott (BWV 767) Canzona in D minor (BWV 588) Ach Gott, und Herr (BWV 714) Ach Gott vom Himmel sieh darein (BWV 741) Herr Jesu Christ, dich zu uns wend (BWV 655c) O Vater, almächtiger Gott (BWV 758) Trio in C minor (after Johann Friedrich Fasch) (BWV 585) Herr Jesu Christ, meines Lebens Licht (BWV 750) Prelude in A minor (BWV 569) Durch Adams Fall ist ganz verderbt (BWV 1101) Vater unser im Himmelreich (BWV 762) Durch Adams Fall ist ganz verderbt (BWV 705) Toccata in D minor (BWV 913) Wo soll ich fliehen hin (BWV 694) Christ, der du bist der helle Tag (BWV 1120) Prelude and Fugue in A minor (BWV 551) Prelude in G (BWV 568) Nun komm, der Heiden Heiland (BWV 699) Nun freut euch, leiben Christen gmein (BWV 734) Lob sei dem allmächtigen Gott (BWV 704) Gottes Sohn ist kommen (BWV 703) Partita: Herr Christ, der einig Gottessohn (BWV Anh. 77) Concerto in D minor (after Marcello) (BWV 974) Auf meinen lieben Gott (BWV 744) In dich hab ich gehoffet, Herr (BWV 712) Toccata in D major (BWV 912) Wie schön leuchtet der Morgenstern (BWV 739) Jesu, meine Freude (BWV 1105) Wie schön leuchtet der Morgenstern (BWV 763) Lobt Gott, ihr Christen, alle gleich (BWV 732) Christum wir sollen loben schon (BWV 696) Gelobet seist du, Jesu Christ (BWV 723) Jesu, meine Freude (BWV 713/Anh. 76) Prelude and Fugue in A minor (BWV 894)

Volume 14 (NI 5689/90)
Prelude and Fugue in C minor (BWV 549) Christ lag in Todesbanden (BWV Anh. 171) Fugue in G (BWV 581) Du Friedefürst, Herr Jesu Christ (BWV 1102) O Herre Gott, dein göttlich's Wort (BWV 757) O Herre Gott, dein göttlich Wort (BWV 1110) Fugue in D (BWV 580) Organ Chorales from the Rudorff Collection: Herzlich tut mich verlangen, or Ach Herr, mich armen Sünder (BWV Anh. 47) Herr Jesu Christ, wahr' Mensch und Gott (not in BWV) Herr Jesu Christ, wahr' Mensch und Gott (not in BWV) Es spricht der Unweisen Mund' (not in BWV) Der Tag der ist so freudenreich, or Ein Kindelein so löbelich (not in BWV) Ach, was ist doch unser Leben (variant of BWV 743) Ach, was soll ich Sünder machen (not in BWV) Trio in G (after G P Telemann) (BWV 586) Gott der Vater wohn uns bei (BWV 748) Auf meinen lieben Gott (not in BWV) Christ lag in Todesbanden (BWV 695) Prelude and Fughetta in D minor (BWV 899) Liebster Jesu, wir sind hier (BWV 754) Liebster Jesu, wir sind hier (BWV 730) Herr Jesu Christ, dich zu uns wend (BWV 749) Fantasia and Fugue in A minor (BWV 561) Concerto in C (after Prince Johann Ernst) (BWV 595) Prelude and Fugue in E minor (BWV 533a) Fantasia in G minor (BWV 917) Partita: Christ, der du bist der helle Tag (BWV 766) Fugue in C (BWV 952) Allein Gott in der Höh sei Her (BWV 711) Allein Gott in der Höh sei Her (BWV 716) Allein Gott in der Höh sei Her (BWV 717) Allein Gott in der Höh sei Her (BWV 715) Six pieces from Anna Magdalena Bach Notebook: Minuet in G (BWV Anh. 114) Minuet in G minor (BWV Anh. 115) Minuet in G (BWV Anh. 116) March in D (BWV Anh. 122) Musette in D (BWV Anh. 126) Minuet in D minor (BWV Anh. 132) Concerto in E flat (BWV 597) Ich hab mein Sach Gott heimgestellt (BWV 707) Partita: Aus der Tiefe rufe ich (BWV 745) Christus, der uns selig macht (BWV 747) Trio in D minor (early version from P1115) (BWV 528/ii) Prelude and Fughetta in E minor (BWV 900) Ach Herr, mich armen Sünder, or Herzlich tut mich verlangen (BWV 742) Concerto in G minor (after G P Telemann) (BWV 985)

Volume 15 (NI 5700/1)
Partita: Ach, was soll ich Sünder machen (BWV 770) Fantasia in C minor (BWV 1121) Fugue in G minor on BACH (BWV Anh. 109) Trio in C minor (BWV Anh. 46) Ouverture (Suite) in F (BWV 820) Jesu, der du meine Seele (BWV 752) Nun komm, der Heiden Heiland (BWV 660b) Der Tag, der ist so freudenreich, or Ein Kindelein so löbelich (BWV 719) Fantasie über ein Rondo in C minor (BWV 918) Fugue in D (BWV 532a/ii) O Lamm Gottes, unschuldig (BWV 1085) Ich hab mein sach Gott heimgestellt (BWV 708) Herzlich tut mich verlangen (BWV 727) Fugue in C (BWV Anh. 90) Fugue in C minor on a theme by Legrenzi (BWV 574a) Herr Jesu Christ, dich zu uns wend (BWV 655b) Prelude, Trio and Fugue in B flat (BWV 545b) Fughetta in C minor (BWV 961) Erhalt uns, Herr, bei deinem Wort (BWV 1103) Allein zu dir, Herr Jesu Christ (BWV 1100) O Jesu, wie ist dein Gestalt (BWV 1094) Herr Jesu Christ, du höchstes Gut (BWV 1114) Sonata in D (BWV 963) Vater unser im Himmelreich (BWV 737) Fantasia on Komm, Heiliger Geist [Herre Gott] (BWV 651a) Komm, Gott Schöpfer, Heiliger Geist (BWV 667b) Liebster Jesu, wir sind hier (BWV 706) Concerto in G (BWV 986) Gott, durch deine Güte, or Gottes Sohn ist kommen (BWV 724) Nun freut euch, lieben Christen gmein (BWV 755) Rinck Preludes (not in BWV): 1. Ich ruf zu dir, Herr Jesu Christ – Aria 2. Komm heiliger Geist, erfüll die Herzen 3. Auf meinen lieben Gott – Arioso 4. Herr Christ, der einig Gottes Sohn 5. Herr Christ, der einig Gottes Sohn – Aria Fugue in A minor (BWV 947) Wir glauben all an einen Gott [Vater, Sohn und Heilgen Geist] (BWV 740) Prelude in C (BWV 567) Fugue in E minor (BWV 956) Ehre sei dir, Christe, der du leidest Not (BWV 1097) Herzliebster Jesu, was hast du verbrochen (BWV 1093) Jesu, meines Lebens Leben (BWV 1107) O Lamm Gottes unschuldig (BWV 1095) Das alte Jahr vergangen ist (BWV 1091)

Volume 16 (NI 5734/5)
Concerto in D (after Vivaldi) (BWV 972) Wer nur den lieben Gott lässt walten (BWV 691a) Prelude and Fugue in C (BWV 545a) Prelude in A (BEV 536a/i) Ich ruf' zu dir, Herr Jesu Christ (BWV Anh. 73) An Wasserflüssen Babylon (BWV 653a) Passacaglia in D minor (BWV Anh. 182) Fugue in C minor on a theme by Legrenzi (BWV 574b) Vater unser im Himmelreich (BWV 683a) Allein Gott in der Höh sei her (BWV 676a) Ich hab mein Sach Gott Heimgestellt (BWV 708a) Fugue in D minor (BWV Anh. 180) Ach Gott und Herr (BWV 692) Ach Gott und Herr (BWV 693) Schmücke dich, o liebe Seele (BWV 759) Vater unser im Himmelreich (BWV 760) Vater unser im Himmelreich (BWV 761) Fantasia and Fugue in D minor (BWV 549a) Fugue in E minor (BWV 962) Concerto in C (after Prince Johann Ernst) (BWV 984) Prelude in A minor (BWV 543a/i) Prelude and Fugue in G minor (BWV 535a) Valet will ich dir geben (BWV 735a) Christ lag in Todesbanden (BWV 695a) Pedalexercitium (BWV 598) Fantasia in C (BWV 573) Jesu, meine Freude (BWV 753) Wie schön leucht uns der Morgenstern (BWV 764) O Trauerichkeit, o Herzeleid (BWV Anh. 200) Jesu Leiden, Pein und Tod (BWV Anh. 57) 18 Clock Pieces (BWV Anh. 133-150) Fugue in B flat on BACH (BWV Anh. 45) Toccata in A major (BWV Anh. 178) Drei Ciacone (BWV Anh. 82-84) Prelude and Fugue in B flat on BACH (BWV 898) Prelude and Fugue in E flat (BWV Anh. 177)

Volume 17 (NI 5738/40)
Ricercare in 6 voices (Organo pleno) (BWV 1079/v) Prelude and Fughetta in F (BWV 901) Fugue in B flat (after Erselius) (BWV 955) Prelude and Fughetta in G (BWV 902) Fugue in D minor (BWV 948) Fugue in A minor (BWV 958) Praeludium et Partita del tuono terzo (in F) (BWV 833) Fugue in B flat (after Johann Adam Reincken) (BWV 954) Fugue in E minor (BWV 945) Fantasia in C minor (BWV 919) Prelude in G (BWV 902a/i) Fantasia and Fugue in A minor (BWV 944) Fantasia in A minor (BWV 922) Capriccio in B flat sopra la lontananza del fratello dilettissimo (BWV 992) Ricercare in 3 voices from The Musical Offering (BWV 1079/i) Ricercare in 6 voices (quieter registration) (BWV 1079/v) Die Kunst der Fuge (BWV 1080) Wenn wir in höchsten Nöten sein (BWV 688a)
 * Jehan Alain: Complete organ works
 * Johannes Brahms: Complete organ works
 * Charles-Valentin Alkan – Complete organ and pedal piano works
 * Thierry Pallesco: Organ works (Organ of Glasgow Cathedral, Priory Records)
 * Jean Langlais: Organ works
 * Robert Schumann and Julius Reubke: Organ works
 * Paul Hindemith, Arnold Schoenberg, and Ernst Pepping: Organ works
 * Olivier Messiaen: Organ works
 * Kaikhosru Shapurji Sorabji: Organ Symphony No. 1
 * Charles Camilleri: Organ works
 * Alan Gibbs: Magic Flutes: Organ music
 * Peter Maxwell Davies, Jonathan Harvey, and Malcolm Williamson: Organ music
 * Philip Glass and Christopher Bowers-Broadbent: Organ works
 * Brian Ferneyhough, Wilfrid Mellers, and John Tavener: Mandelion: Organ music
 * Paul Fisher: Organ music
 * Arvo Pärt, Sofia Gubaidulina, Einojuhani Rautavaara, and Henryk Mikolaj Górecki: Organ music
 * Niels Gade, Franz Syberg, Per Nørgård, and Carl Nielsen: Danish Organ Music
 * A Late Twentieth century Edwardian Bach Recital
 * In Memoriam John Ogdon
 * Twentieth Century English Music
 * Christmas Organ Music
 * For Weddings
 * A Feast of Organ Exuberance
 * In Praise of Father Willis – the Alcock legacy
 * Organ Xplosion 1
 * Dambusters! Organ Xplosion 2
 * The Storm
 * Five English Abbeys
 * Organ Party Vol.I ( Priory Records)
 * Organ Party Vol.II (Priory Records)
 * Organ Party Vol.III (Priory Records)
 * The Organ Works of Marco Lo Muscio (Priory Records)
 * Olivier Messiaen - Works for Organ (Priory Records)
 * Green and Pleasant Land (Priory Records)

Writings

 * Kevin Bowyer: 20th Century European Organ Music: A Toast, in The IAO Millennium Book, ed. P. Hale, ISBN 0-9538711-0-X
 * Booklet notes to several of his recordings.