John Knowles Paine (1839-1905), American composer and music educator, was especially instrumental in organizing music courses for the college curriculum.

John Knowles Paine was born on Jan. 9, 1839, in Portland, Maine. At 18 he made his debut as an organist and shortly afterward went to Berlin to study organ, composition, and orchestration. Before leaving Europe in 1862, he toured Germany as an organist. Upon his return to America he was made organist and music director of Harvard University. He soon offered to give a series of free lectures at Harvard and, after some debate, was granted permission. Before long Paine was offering, without pay, noncredit courses in musical form, harmony, and counterpoint. His courses eventually were approved for degree credit, and in 1873 Paine was appointed assistant professor. Two years later he was promoted to full professor.

The music school at Harvard evolved largely out of Paine's work, and Harvard's example was...