Some books on American musical history consign all composers before Charles Ives to a chapter on “The Pre-History of American Music,” as if the 19^th century produced little of consequence.

And yet, it is hard to imagine an Ives, a Copland—or even a Gershwin—without the pioneering groundwork of the so-called “Boston Six”—Arthur Foote, George Chadwick, Amy Beach, Edward MacDowell, Horatio Parker—and the most senior of the group—John Knowles Paine.

In the next hour, the remarkable music of these important—and often overlooked—19^th century Americans, who laid the groundwork for composers of the 20^th.