Fritz Stein

Fritz Stein (Friedrich Wilhelm Stein; Gerlachsheim, 1879 – Berlin, 1961) was a German musicologist, organist and conductor whose career spans academic musical life in Germany from the early twentieth century through the Nazi period. He first trained in theology at Heidelberg and, around 1902, devoted himself entirely to music, encouraged by the organist Philipp Wolfrum. His significance lies both in his work as a performer and editor and in the role he played under the National Socialist regime.

He studied in Leipzig with Krehl, Nikisch, Straube and Riemann. In 1906 he became university music director and municipal organist in Jena, where he championed the works of Max Reger. He received his doctorate at Heidelberg in 1912 and, in Kiel, served as organist, lecturer in musicology from 1920 and professor from 1928. In 1925 he was awarded the title of Generalmusikdirektor and organised festivals devoted to Bach, Handel and contemporary composers.

With the Nazis' rise to power he reached the peak of his career when he directed the Berlin Hochschule für Musik. He openly supported the party and invoked the rhetoric of Rosenberg's Kampfbund für deutsche Kultur, of which he was a member. He applied for party membership in 1933, though he was not admitted until 1940. He made efforts to protect Hindemith, yet he shaped training according to a "National Socialist education" and promoted "community music" (Gemeinschaftsmusik) as a link to the ideas of the time. During the Third Reich he presided over the Reichsbund für Evangelische Kirchenmusik.

As an editor he published cantatas by Nicolaus Bruhns, symphonies by J. C. Bach and G. J. Werner's Musicalischer Instrumental-Calender. For years he maintained that the so-called Jena Symphony, which he published in 1911, was an early work by Beethoven; it is now generally attributed to Friedrich Witt, a fact worth bearing in mind when assessing his judgements. His monograph on Reger (1939) remains a standard reference.

His legacy combines a genuine contribution to the revival of early repertoire and the dissemination of Reger's music with a political career that is today examined with caution. His writings and editions are still consulted, always with cross-checking of sources.