[2] Jacques was born in Ashby-de-la-Zouch, Leicestershire and obtained his first degree from the University of Oxford under Sir Hugh Allen, where he later became organist (1926) and fellow (1933) of Queen's College.
Dr Jacques occupied a succession of increasingly prestigious and influential posts in the music world, based mostly in Oxford and London.
[3] Kathleen Ferrier was frequently a soloist under Jacques during that time, and performed her first London Messiah with him on 17 May 1943, an event which opened up her career.
[4] His string orchestra established the morning concert series at the first Edinburgh International Festival in 1947,[5] and (beyond its core repertoire of Baroque music) also performed and premiered contemporary English works by composers such as Arthur Bliss, Arnold Cooke, Gordon Jacob and John Ireland.
[7] He collaborated with Sir David Willcocks in compiling the popular first volume of Carols for Choirs (1961), which incorporates several of his better known arrangements.