Thomas Reginald Jacques (13 January 1894 – 2 June 1969) was an English

choral A choir ( ; also known as a chorale or chorus) is a musical ensemble of singers. Choral music, in turn, is the music written specifically for such an ensemble to perform. Choirs may perform music from the classical music repertoire, which s ...

and orchestral conductor. His legacy includes various choral music arrangements, but he is not primarily remembered as a composer. Jacques was born in

Ashby-de-la-Zouch Ashby-de-la-Zouch, sometimes spelt Ashby de la Zouch () and shortened locally to Ashby, is a market town and civil parish in the North West Leicestershire district of Leicestershire, England. The town is near to the Derbyshire and Staffordsh ...

, Leicestershire and obtained his first degree from the

University of Oxford The University of Oxford is a collegiate research university in Oxford, England. There is evidence of teaching as early as 1096, making it the oldest university in the English-speaking world and the world's second-oldest university in contin ...

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 Oxford () is a city in England. It is the county town and only city of Oxfordshire. In 2020, its population was estimated at 151,584. It is north-west of London, south-east of Birmingham and north-east of Bristol. The city is home to the Un ...

and

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

. He conducted the Oxford Harmonic Society between 1923 and 1930 and

the Bach Choir The Bach Choir is a large independent musical organisation founded in London, England in 1876 to give the first performance of J. S. Bach's '' Mass in B minor'' in Britain. The choir has around 240 active members. Directed by David Hill MBE (Ya ...

for thirty years between 1932 and 1960. He founded the Jacques String Orchestra in 1936. He became music director of the Council for the Encouragement of Music and the Arts (CEMA) at its inception in January 1940.

Kathleen Ferrier Kathleen Mary Ferrier, CBE (22 April 19128 October 1953) was an English contralto singer who achieved an international reputation as a stage, concert and recording artist, with a repertoire extending from folksong and popular ballads to the c ...

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. His string orchestra established the morning concert series at the first

Edinburgh International Festival The Edinburgh International Festival is an annual arts festival in Edinburgh, Scotland, spread over the final three weeks in August. Notable figures from the international world of music (especially classical music) and the performing arts are ...

in 1947,Jacobs, Arthur. 'Jacques, Reginald' in ''Grove Music Online'', 2001
/ref> and (beyond its core repertoire of Baroque music) also performed and premiered contemporary English works by composers such as

Arthur Bliss Sir Arthur Edward Drummond Bliss (2 August 189127 March 1975) was an English composer and conductor. Bliss's musical training was cut short by the First World War, in which he served with distinction in the army. In the post-war years he qu ...

, Arnold Cooke,

Gordon Jacob Gordon Percival Septimus Jacob CBE (5 July 18958 June 1984) was an English composer and teacher. He was a professor at the Royal College of Music in London from 1924 until his retirement in 1966, and published four books and many articles about ...

and John Ireland. He collaborated with

Sir David Willcocks Sir David Valentine Willcocks, (30 December 1919 – 17 September 2015) was a British choral conductor, organist, composer and music administrator. He was particularly well known for his association with the Choir of King's College, Cambridg ...

in compiling the popular first volume of ''

Carols for Choirs ''Carols for Choirs'' is a collection of choral scores, predominantly of Christmas carols and hymns, first published in 1961 by Oxford University Press. It was edited by Sir David Willcocks and Reginald Jacques, and is a widely used source of ...

'' (1961), which incorporates several of his better known arrangements. He was the first director of CEMA, the Council for the Encouragement of Music and the Arts, forerunner of the Arts Council. Jacques suffered from ill health most of his life, a consequence of wounds received in

World War One World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

. He retired from conducting in 1960. His address in the 1950s and 1960s was 12, St Mary Abbot's Place, Kensington. He was a guest on ''

Desert Island Discs ''Desert Island Discs'' is a radio programme broadcast on BBC Radio 4. It was first broadcast on the BBC Forces Programme on 29 January 1942. Each week a guest, called a " castaway" during the programme, is asked to choose eight recordings (us ...

'' on 26 August 1963.

References

Bibliography

* Arthur Jacobs: 'Jacques, Reginald'
''Grove Music Online''
ed. L. Macy (accessed 10 March 2021) 1894 births 1969 deaths English conductors (music) British male conductors (music) People from Ashby-de-la-Zouch Bach conductors 20th-century British conductors (music) 20th-century British male musicians {{UK-conductor-stub