Fritz Stein | |
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Born | Friedrich Wilhelm Stein 17 December 1879
Gerlachsheim, Germany |
Died | 14 November 1961 Berlin, West Germany | (aged 81)
Education | Heidelberg University |
Occupations |
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Friedrich Wilhelm Stein (17 December 1879 – 14 November 1961) was a German theologian, conductor, musicologist and church musician. He found in an archive in Jena the score of the so-called Jena Symphony, which he published as possibly a work by the young Ludwig van Beethoven. After a long period in Kiel from 1919 to 1933, teaching at the Kiel University and as Generalmusikdirektor, he had a leading position in the Reichsmusikkammer of the Nazis in Berlin.
Born Friedrich Wilhelm Stein [1] in Gerlachsheim, [2] [1] Stein first studied theology in Heidelberg and Berlin. He graduated with the Staatsexamen in Karlsruhe in 1902. [3] He then studied with Philipp Wolfrum who, being both a conductor and conductor, became a model for his own work. [2] Stein played organ concerts, but still studied music and musicology with Arthur Nikisch and Hans Sitt at the Leipzig Conservatory until 1906. [2] [4] In Leipzig he had close contact with Max Reger and Karl Straube. [2]
Stein worked in Jena from 1906 as an organist for the town and the university. He found in an archive in Jena the orchestral parts of the so-called Jena Symphony, which he published in 1911, thinking that it might have been written by Ludwig van Beethoven. [5] He found the name "Beethoven" in two parts, and summarized: "As we do not as yet know of anyone, amongst the followers of Haydn and Mozart towards the end of the 19th century, to whom we could attribute such a composition, which heralds the Master ...". [6] The work was performed as one by Beethoven, until H. C. Robbins Landon, a scholar of Joseph Haydn and Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, found in 1957 manuscript portions of the symphony in the Landesarchiv in Rudolstadt, by Friedrich Witt. [6]
Stein's dissertation in 1910 was Geschichte des Musikwesens in Heidelberg bis zum Ende des 18. Jahrhunderts (History of music in Heideberg until the end of the 18th century). [4] In 1914 he succeeded Reger as court director of music in Meiningen. As an academic teacher, he was Außerordentlicher Professor in Jena from 1913. [7] In 1919 he was appointed Außerordentlicher Professor for musicology in Kiel, and from 1928 also in Ordinarius. [3] In Kiel he was also the organist at the St. Nikolai, Kiel until 1923 and Generalmusikdirektor from 1925 to 1933. [4]
In 1932 he became a member of the Kampfbund für deutsche Kultur. In July 1933, he became Reichsleiter der Fachgruppe Musik of the Kampfbund, responsible for music. [3] Under the Nazis, he was director of the Musikhochschule in Berlin. [4] Among his students was Sergiu Celibidache. [8]
After World War II, he lost all his functions and worked freelance. He was later president of the Verband für evangelische Kirchenmusik. [4] Stein died in Berlin. [9]