By Jonathan Blumhofer

Volume 1 in a new series from the BBC Philharmonic Orchestra and John Wilson whets the appetite for more music by the late-19th-century American composer Edward MacDowell.

Before Charles Ives, Elliott Carter, and Carl Ruggles; before Irving Fine, Harold Shapero, and Randall Thompson, but after William Billings and Lowell Mason, there was the so-called Second New England School.

The names associated with it — George Whitefield Chadwick, Amy Beach, Horatio Parker, John Knowles Paine — are, if they’re known at all, far more familiar than the music those composers produced. Even so, their output, though it’s often fallen through the cracks in the repertoire, forms an important link between what passed for American concert music, pre-Civil War, and that of the 20th century.

Now, “important” doesn’t necessarily mean neglected masterpiece. In the case of Edward MacDowell, who’s the subject of a new series from the BBC Philharmonic Orchestra and John Wilson, it does suggest the promise of things to come — at least as far as Volume 1 is concerned.

Like Chadwick, Parker, and Paine, MacDowell trained in Europe, and his music is steeped in the vocabulary and values of the late-19th-century Continent. The disc’s single biggest item, for instance, his Piano Concerto No. 1, channels the spirit of Liszt and Tchaikovsky with enthusiasm. In fact, Liszt was deeply impressed by the score when MacDowell played it for him in Weimar in 1882 and gladly accepted its dedication.

Though clearly the work of a young composer — transitional seams often show, the development of materials (especially in the first movement) is a bit lax, and phrasings tend to be a mite too strict — there’s plenty over its 24-minute duration that charms the ear.

Pianist Xiayin Wang certainly has her hands full navigating its splatter of notes. But she shapes them well and also teases out the moments of character that surely impressed Liszt. The striking harmonic progressions in the songful Andante tranquillo are enchanting, the zesty, Tansman-worthy principal theme of the finale overflows with vim. Wilson and the Philharmonic are her lively accompanists, though moments of errant scoring (MacDowell was just 22 when he wrote the Concerto) result in occasionally skewed balances.

What a difference a few years made: the album’s remaining fare, written when the composer was between his mid-20s and mid-30s, demonstrates an altogether more sophisticated handling of the orchestra.

The tone poem Lancelot und Elaine (being the good graduate of Frankfurt’s Hochschule, MacDowell’s titles — and instrumentation — are all auf Deutsch) takes its cue from Alfred, Lord Tennyson’s epic Idylls of the Kings and relates a tragic tale from the court of King Arthur.

Though not particularly inspired, thematically, and a shade long-winded, the instrumentation really carries the music. It’s cinematic, echoing (after the best manner) Wagner, Liszt, and Tchaikovsky; this a grand showpiece for the ensemble and the BBC players dig in with relish.

They do much the same with Lamia, another ambitious programmatic effort, this one after Keats’s eponymous poem. While parts of it sound like watered-down Wagner and Dvorak, there’s plenty going on, rhythmically and melodically, to engage the listener, especially over the score’s vigorous parts. Under Wilson’s direction, all of the details that need to emerge just as they should; the conductor also keeps the proceedings moving well without getting sidetracked by ephemera.

The disc’s remaining items include a lovely, unsentimental performance of To a Wild Rose, perhaps MacDowell’s most famous composition, and a pair of excerpts from an uncompleted symphony on 11th-century ballad The Song of Roland. Though “Die schöne Alda” is pretty and sometimes delicate, it hardly evinces anything Medieval. The shrill, turbulent turns of “Die Sarazenen,” on the other hand, are reminiscent of Berlioz at his more demonic.

One looks forward to more of that quality in subsequent installments of the series. Until then, Volume 1 does enough to whet the appetite.

Jonathan Blumhofer is a composer and violist who has been active in the greater Boston area since 2004. His music has received numerous awards and been performed by various ensembles, including the American Composers Orchestra, Kiev Philharmonic, Camerata Chicago, Xanthos Ensemble, and Juventas New Music Group. Since receiving his doctorate from Boston University in 2010, Jon has taught at Clark University, Worcester Polytechnic Institute, and online for the University of Phoenix, in addition to writing music criticism for the Worcester Telegram & Gazette.