Together with Louis Schoenewerk and other sponsors, Durand founded the company Durand-Schoenewerk & Cie. in December 1869 and acquired the important catalogue of the Paris music publisher Gustave Flaxland (1821–1895), which had grown from approximately 1,200 titles in 1847 to 1,400 titles in 1869.
Jacques assumed control of the company in 1909 when his father died, and brought in his cousin Gaston Choisnel (d. 1921) as a partner.
Durand became an expert in the publication of works by French composers including Victorin de Joncières, Edouard Lalo, Jules Massenet, Claude Debussy, Camille Saint-Saëns, Maurice Ravel, Albert Roussel and Paul Dukas.
Between 1910 and 1913, Auguste and, after his death, his son Jacques organised concerts to raise awareness of new music.
In 1914, Jacques published under the title Édition classique Durand & fils important nineteenth-century works for piano including the music of Chopin edited by Debussy, of Mendelssohn by Ravel and of Schumann by Gabriel Fauré.