British composer Gordon Jacob ranks as one of the world's foremost contributors to the wind ensemble repertoire, with hundreds of works for military band as well as other types of musical groups. He earned his Doctor of Music degree and also taught counterpoint, orchestration and composition for 40 years at the Royal College of Music. He wrote band works along the lines of Gustav Holst and his good friend Vaughan Williams – not imitating their style but, as he said, "striving to come near to their spirit of adventure and independence of thought" in his own work.