Paul Steinitz

Paul Steinitz OBE (25 August 1909 – 21 April 1988) was a pioneer in the post-war interpretation of the music of Johann Sebastian Bach. He founded the London Bach Society and Steinitz Bach Players in order to put his scholarship into practice, performing among other significant Bach projects, a complete cycle of Bach’s cantatas in mainly London venues over the space of 29 years, the first public cycle of the extant church and secular works in the UK.

(Charles) Paul (Joseph) Steinitz was born in Chichester in 1909, the son of an Anglican clergyman. He was educated privately and later studied at the Royal Academy of Music, and with [[George Oldroyd] and Stanley Marchant]. He was a skilled organist, obtaining his Fellowship Diploma (FRCO) in 1930, only six months after taking his Associateship Diploma (ARCO) from the Royal College of Organists. In the 1930s, he served as Director of Music at St. Mary's Ashford, Kent where he developed his keen interest on Bach while studying for his Doctorate (University of London, 1940). Having founded the London Bach Society [1] in 1946, Dr. Steinitz was then appointed Director of Music and organist at the Priory Church of St. Bartholomew-the-Great in London (1949–1961) and became Senior, then Principal Lecturer at University of London Goldsmiths College (1945–1977), serving on the University of London Senate during his tenure. He was appointed Professor at the Royal Academy of Music (1945–1984), then Consultant Professor 1984-1988.

In 1946 Paul Steinitz founded the (South) London Bach Society with the aim of performing Bach’s works in their original form, free from the romantic exaggerations which had been habitual from the Victorian era and using appropriate editions. From 1950 onwards Bach's works were performed in the German language, a controversial move at the time as the language was still an enemy tongue. In 1952 Paul Steinitz directed the first performance in Britain of Bach’s St Matthew Passion in its complete and original German form using the 1736 score. The presentation was a conscious attempt to 'get back to Bach in its original form' that has since been acknowledged as a key moment in the move towards performing Bach's music according to period style and to scale. The annual performances that followed became a highlight of the musical calendar, were broadcast regularly and drew a Who's Who of solo artistry to the platform. Through these and his other influential Bach projects and performances, Dr Steinitz is widely acknowledged to be a pioneer in the field, a key figure in the British Bach revival of the 20th century.

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