Biographical Summary
5 July 1895 | Born in London to Stephen and Clara Jacob, the seventh son and the last child in a family of ten | ||
1898 | His father, Stephen Jacob, died in India (Jacob was just three years old) | ||
Educated at Dulwich College | |||
26 August 1914 | Enlisted in the Infantry: active service in World War I | ||
18 September 1916 | Closest brother Anstey died in the Somme | ||
April 1917 | Taken POW, one of 60 survivors out of a battalion of 800 | ||
Studied at the Royal College of Music, London, with Stanford, Parry, Howells, Boult and Vaughan Williams Taught briefly at Birkbeck and Morley Colleges, also in London |
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1924 | Married his first wife, Sidney Gray | ||
1926 | Returned to the RCM as a lecturer for 40 years. He was on the teaching staff there from 1924 until his retirement in 1966, and his pupils included Malcolm Arnold, Imogen Holst, Joseph Horovitz, Elizabeth Maconchy and Bernard Stevens | ||
1935 | Gained doctorate (DMus) (London) | ||
1943 | Awarded the John Collard Fellowship by the Worshipful Company of Musicians | ||
1946 | Awarded FRCM (Fellow of the Royal College of Music) | ||
1947 | Awarded honorary FRAM (Fellow of the Royal Academy of Music) | ||
1951 | Provided music for the Festival of Britain | ||
1953 | Arranged the National Anthem with Fanfare for the Coronation of Queen Elizabeth II | ||
1959 | BBC TV documentary 'Gordon Jacob' (directed by Ken Russell) | ||
8 August 1959 | Married Margaret Gray | ||
1966 | Retired from his professorship at the Royal College of Music | ||
1968 | Awarded the CBE in the Queen's New Years Honours List | ||
1981 | Guest of honour at an International Conference of Symphonic Wind Bands | ||
8 June 1984 | Died, Saffron Walden | ||
By the time Gordon Jacob died on 8 June 1984, aged 89, he had written over 700 pieces of music and several books. In 1995, the book Gordon Jacob, A centenary biography by Eric Wetherell was published. |