Paul Steinitz
Encyclopedia
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 all Bach’s cantata
s in mainly London venues over the space of 29 years.
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
. He was a skilled organist
, obtaining his FRCO in 1930, only six months after taking his ARCO
. 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 http://www.bachlive.co.uk in 1946, Dr. Steinitz was then appointed Director of Music and organist at the historic http://www.greatstbarts.com 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.
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
. 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. 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 which 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.
The word “South” was dropped from the society’s title in 1952 and later Steinitz embarked on the mammoth task of performing all 208 of Bach’s extant cantatas to British audiences. This project was began in November 1958 and completed in December 1987, just a few months before Steinitz’s final illness. In 1968 he founded the Steinitz Bach Players, a group of professional players who shared Steinitz’s ideals of authentic performance. The playing style complemented the singing style of the choir in the cantatas and passions and their performances of the St Matthew Passion – and sometimes the St John Passion – were eagerly awaited annual events, generally given in prominent London churches. Performances given beyond the capital brought the singers and players to leading British Festivals and there were frequent tours abroad: including USA, Israel
, German Democratic Republic
(1964 and 1983, including St. Thomas' Church Leipzig both times) and Bulgaria
.
Steinitz’s music making was not restricted to Bach and other Baroque
composers. He was a champion of contemporary, mostly British, composers. Commissions and First Performances were established in the 1950s and 1960s and included works by Stravinsky
(Canticum Sacrum
, guest conducted by Robert Craft
, in 1956), Bruno Maderna, Luigi Dallapiccola, Peter Maxwell Davies
, John Tavener
, Anthony Milner
, Stanley Glasser
(sung in Zulu
), Christopher Brown, Geoffrey Burgon
and his own pupil Nicholas Maw
.
In conjunction with Joan Brocklebank, Paul Steinitz also started another choral and chamber orchestral society in 1955, the Dorset Bach Cantata Club
. At the time of its foundation, Dr Steinitz was already contemplating the presentation of a more considered cycle of Bach's cantatas with his London Bach Society and directing DBCC weekends not only enabled him to create more time to study and perform the cantatas but also to extend knowledge of them to a wider circle. The Dorset Bach Cantata Club remains the only one of its type in the country and in 2005 celebrated its 50th anniversary. In 2009, Paul Steinitz' centenary year, the group dedicated its October meeting to its founder and first conductor.
His publications include the chapter on German church music in the 18th century 'The New Oxford History of Music, to many harmony textbooks for music students as well as books entitled Bach’s Passions, Bach for Choirs, and Performing Bach’s Vocal Music. There are also numerous letters and articles published by The Musical Times from the 1950s to 1980s and in various American Journals including that of the American Choral Directors Association (ACDA).
Paul Steinitz was a Fellow of the Royal Academy of Music
and Royal College of Organists
. He was appointed an Officer of the Order of the British Empire
(OBE) in 1985, the Bach ter-centenary year. However, he would wish Bach to have the last honour: a portrait of the great composer would often be leaning against the conductor's rostrum, and then held high to rapturous applause at the end of the concert.
Dr. Steinitz died on 21 April 1988 at home in his beloved 18th century cottage in Old Oxted village after a short illness. He was a devout Quaker who held a passionate belief that music could contribute to peace by bridging political divides.
A public memorial to him was placed in the Cloister of St Bartholomew-the-Great
, West Smithfield, in the City of London. It was provided by public subscription, created by Richard Kindersley and unveiled in 1991 by the serving Lord Mayor of London
Sir Alexander Grahame GBE. The ceremony was followed by an all-Bach concert that reflected the musical forces Steinitz was advocating, now being handed on to the next generation to take forward. The programme of Bach's seasonal cantatas, the famous Chaconne and Third Suite was given to a distinguished audience of public figures, musicians and supporters. It was a fitting memorial and provided encouragement for the future, the seamless continuity Dr. Steinitz wanted so much to take place after his death.
At the opening of the London Bach Festival that celebrated the LBS Golden Jubilee in 1996, the composer John Tavener
paid tribute to Paul Steinitz for his contribution to British musical life and to the London Bach Society. He said: "I do not think that Paul was ever truly recognised and I think that England should hang its head in shame…… without him the London Bach Society would not have existed. "
Paul Steinitz is survived by his wife Margaret whom he married in 1976, and by two sons, one of whom is the founder of the Huddersfield Contemporary Music Festival Professor Richard Steinitz, and a daughter from previous marriages. Today Mrs Steinitz continues her husband's work and has developed the London Bach Society to incorporate Steinitz Bach Players and an annual Bachfest, and she is Artistic Director. In 2001, she became an Honorary Associate of the Royal Academy of Music (Hon.ARAM) and was awarded the Officer's Cross of the German Order of Merit in 2006.
Dr. Steinitz' centenary was reflected appropriately at the London Bach Society's Bachfest in 2009 and by other organisations with whom he was closely associated. Care was taken to present a series that was active rather than passive in keeping with Dr. Steinitz' own approach to Bach study and performance. A concert in the Royal Academy of Music/Kohn Foundation Bach Cantata series was dedicated to him, a Steinitz Bach String Prize was inaugurated at the Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama, a special Bach Cantata concert performed by Steinitz Bach Players and an array of contemporary Bach singers was presented in the Priory Church of St. Bartholomew the Great and a new 18-30 Bach Club founded. In 2010 a development campaign was launched at the London Bach Society's 20th Bachfest entitled "Bach for Life",a five-year project, the chief aim of which is to secure a central headquarters for the London Bach Society. The 21st Bachfest will take place in November 2011.
Order of the British Empire
The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is an order of chivalry established on 4 June 1917 by George V of the United Kingdom. The Order comprises five classes in civil and military divisions...
(25 August 1909–21 April 1988) was a pioneer in the post-war interpretation of the music of Johann Sebastian Bach
Johann Sebastian Bach
Johann Sebastian Bach was a German composer, organist, harpsichordist, violist, and violinist whose sacred and secular works for choir, orchestra, and solo instruments drew together the strands of the Baroque period and brought it to its ultimate maturity...
. He founded the London Bach Society
London Bach Society
The London Bach Society is a society devoted to performing the music of Johann Sebastian Bach with small, professional forces, using period instruments in order to obtain an authentic style of interpretation.-History:...
and Steinitz Bach Players in order to put his scholarship into practice, performing all Bach’s cantata
Cantata
A cantata is a vocal composition with an instrumental accompaniment, typically in several movements, often involving a choir....
s in mainly London venues over the space of 29 years.
Career
(Charles) Paul (Joseph) Steinitz was born in ChichesterChichester
Chichester is a cathedral city in West Sussex, within the historic County of Sussex, South-East England. It has a long history as a settlement; its Roman past and its subsequent importance in Anglo-Saxon times are only its beginnings...
in 1909, the son of an Anglican clergyman. He was educated privately and later studied at the Royal Academy of Music
Royal Academy of Music
The Royal Academy of Music in London, England, is a conservatoire, Britain's oldest degree-granting music school and a constituent college of the University of London since 1999. The Academy was founded by Lord Burghersh in 1822 with the help and ideas of the French harpist and composer Nicolas...
, and with George Oldroyd
George Oldroyd
Dr. George Oldroyd was an English organist and composer of Anglican church music. He was organist of St. Alban's Church, Holborn from 1919 to 1920, and then of St Michael's Church, Croydon from 1920 until his death in 1956. Both are churches firmly rooted within the Anglo-Catholic tradition in the...
. He was a skilled organist
Organist
An organist is a musician who plays any type of organ. An organist may play solo organ works, play with an ensemble or orchestra, or accompany one or more singers or instrumental soloists...
, obtaining his FRCO in 1930, only six months after taking his ARCO
Royal College of Organists
The Royal College of Organists or RCO, is a charity and membership organisation based in the United Kingdom, but with members around the world...
. In the 1930s, he served as Director of Music at St. Mary's Ashford, Kent
Ashford, Kent
Ashford is a town in the borough of Ashford in Kent, England. In 2005 it was voted the fourth best place to live in the United Kingdom. It lies on the Great Stour river, the M20 motorway, and the South Eastern Main Line and High Speed 1 railways. Its agricultural market is one of the most...
where he developed his keen interest on Bach while studying for his Doctorate
Doctorate
A doctorate is an academic degree or professional degree that in most countries refers to a class of degrees which qualify the holder to teach in a specific field, A doctorate is an academic degree or professional degree that in most countries refers to a class of degrees which qualify the holder...
(University of London
University of London
-20th century:Shortly after 6 Burlington Gardens was vacated, the University went through a period of rapid expansion. Bedford College, Royal Holloway and the London School of Economics all joined in 1900, Regent's Park College, which had affiliated in 1841 became an official divinity school of the...
, 1940). Having founded the London Bach Society http://www.bachlive.co.uk in 1946, Dr. Steinitz was then appointed Director of Music and organist at the historic http://www.greatstbarts.com Priory Church of St. Bartholomew-the-Great in London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
(1949–1961)and became Senior, then Principal Lecturer at University of London Goldsmiths College
Goldsmiths College
Goldsmiths, University of London is a public research university located in London, United Kingdom which specialises in the arts, humanities and social sciences, and a constituent college of the federal University of London. It was founded in 1891 as Goldsmiths' Technical and Recreative Institute...
(1945–1977), serving on the University of London Senate during his tenure. He was appointed Professor at the Royal Academy of Music
Royal Academy of Music
The Royal Academy of Music in London, England, is a conservatoire, Britain's oldest degree-granting music school and a constituent college of the University of London since 1999. The Academy was founded by Lord Burghersh in 1822 with the help and ideas of the French harpist and composer Nicolas...
(1945–1984), then Consultant Professor 1984-1988.
London Bach Society
In 1946 Paul Steinitz founded the (South) London Bach SocietyLondon Bach Society
The London Bach Society is a society devoted to performing the music of Johann Sebastian Bach with small, professional forces, using period instruments in order to obtain an authentic style of interpretation.-History:...
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
Victorian era
The Victorian era of British history was the period of Queen Victoria's reign from 20 June 1837 until her death on 22 January 1901. It was a long period of peace, prosperity, refined sensibilities and national self-confidence...
. From 1950 onwards Bach's works were performed in the German language
German language
German is a West Germanic language, related to and classified alongside English and Dutch. With an estimated 90 – 98 million native speakers, German is one of the world's major languages and is the most widely-spoken first language in the European Union....
, 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. 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 which 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.
The word “South” was dropped from the society’s title in 1952 and later Steinitz embarked on the mammoth task of performing all 208 of Bach’s extant cantatas to British audiences. This project was began in November 1958 and completed in December 1987, just a few months before Steinitz’s final illness. In 1968 he founded the Steinitz Bach Players, a group of professional players who shared Steinitz’s ideals of authentic performance. The playing style complemented the singing style of the choir in the cantatas and passions and their performances of the St Matthew Passion – and sometimes the St John Passion – were eagerly awaited annual events, generally given in prominent London churches. Performances given beyond the capital brought the singers and players to leading British Festivals and there were frequent tours abroad: including USA, Israel
Israel
The State of Israel is a parliamentary republic located in the Middle East, along the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea...
, German Democratic Republic
German Democratic Republic
The German Democratic Republic , informally called East Germany by West Germany and other countries, was a socialist state established in 1949 in the Soviet zone of occupied Germany, including East Berlin of the Allied-occupied capital city...
(1964 and 1983, including St. Thomas' Church Leipzig both times) and Bulgaria
Bulgaria
Bulgaria , officially the Republic of Bulgaria , is a parliamentary democracy within a unitary constitutional republic in Southeast Europe. The country borders Romania to the north, Serbia and Macedonia to the west, Greece and Turkey to the south, as well as the Black Sea to the east...
.
Steinitz’s music making was not restricted to Bach and other Baroque
Baroque
The Baroque is a period and the style that used exaggerated motion and clear, easily interpreted detail to produce drama, tension, exuberance, and grandeur in sculpture, painting, literature, dance, and music...
composers. He was a champion of contemporary, mostly British, composers. Commissions and First Performances were established in the 1950s and 1960s and included works by Stravinsky
Igor Stravinsky
Igor Fyodorovich Stravinsky ; 6 April 1971) was a Russian, later naturalized French, and then naturalized American composer, pianist, and conductor....
(Canticum Sacrum
Canticum Sacrum
Canticum Sacrum ad Honorem Sancti Marci Nominis is a 17-minute choral-orchestral piece composed in 1955 by Igor Stravinsky in tribute "To the City of Venice, in praise of its Patron Saint, the Blessed Mark, Apostle." The piece is compact and stylistically varied, ranging from established...
, guest conducted by Robert Craft
Robert Craft
Robert Lawson Craft is an American conductor and writer. He is best known for his intimate working friendship with Igor Stravinsky, a relationship which resulted in a number of recordings and books.-Life:...
, in 1956), Bruno Maderna, Luigi Dallapiccola, Peter Maxwell Davies
Peter Maxwell Davies
Sir Peter Maxwell Davies, CBE is an English composer and conductor and is currently Master of the Queen's Music.-Biography:...
, John Tavener
John Tavener
Sir John Tavener is a British composer, best known for such religious, minimal works as "The Whale", and "Funeral Ikos"...
, Anthony Milner
Anthony Milner
Anthony Milner was a British composer, teacher and conductor.Milner was born in Bristol, and educated at Douai School, Woolhampton, Berkshire. He won a scholarship to the Royal College of Music, where he studied piano with Herbert Fryer and theory with R. O. Morris...
, Stanley Glasser
Stanley Glasser
Stanley Glasser , is a South African-born composer and academic who studied with Matyas Seiber at Cambridge. His concert music is deeply influenced by his ethnomusicological investigations of native African music...
(sung in Zulu
Zulu language
Zulu is the language of the Zulu people with about 10 million speakers, the vast majority of whom live in South Africa. Zulu is the most widely spoken home language in South Africa as well as being understood by over 50% of the population...
), Christopher Brown, Geoffrey Burgon
Geoffrey Burgon
Geoffrey Alan Burgon was a British composer notable for his television and film themes.-Life and career:Burgon was born in Hampshire in 1941, and taught himself the trumpet in order to join a jazz band at school...
and his own pupil Nicholas Maw
Nicholas Maw
John Nicholas Maw was a British composer.-Biography:Born in Grantham, Lincolnshire, Maw was the son of Clarence Frederick Maw and Hilda Ellen Chambers. He attended the Wennington School, a boarding school, in Wetherby in the West Riding of Yorkshire. His mother died of tuberculosis when he was 14...
.
In conjunction with Joan Brocklebank, Paul Steinitz also started another choral and chamber orchestral society in 1955, the Dorset Bach Cantata Club
Dorset Bach Cantata Club
The Dorset Bach Cantata Club is a chamber choir and orchestra based in Sturminster Newton, England. It is devoted to performing the music of Johann Sebastian Bach with an amateur choir supported by a semi-professional orchestra.- History :...
. At the time of its foundation, Dr Steinitz was already contemplating the presentation of a more considered cycle of Bach's cantatas with his London Bach Society and directing DBCC weekends not only enabled him to create more time to study and perform the cantatas but also to extend knowledge of them to a wider circle. The Dorset Bach Cantata Club remains the only one of its type in the country and in 2005 celebrated its 50th anniversary. In 2009, Paul Steinitz' centenary year, the group dedicated its October meeting to its founder and first conductor.
Scholarship, honours and personal life
Steinitz’s scholarship and profound understanding of his subject did not prevent him from trusting his players and singers on matters of technique and interpretation. This mutual trust led to some memorable readings and glowing praise in the national press. “All of Bach’s music is dance music except for the recitatives” he would tell his musicians.His publications include the chapter on German church music in the 18th century 'The New Oxford History of Music, to many harmony textbooks for music students as well as books entitled Bach’s Passions, Bach for Choirs, and Performing Bach’s Vocal Music. There are also numerous letters and articles published by The Musical Times from the 1950s to 1980s and in various American Journals including that of the American Choral Directors Association (ACDA).
Paul Steinitz was a Fellow of the Royal Academy of Music
Royal Academy of Music
The Royal Academy of Music in London, England, is a conservatoire, Britain's oldest degree-granting music school and a constituent college of the University of London since 1999. The Academy was founded by Lord Burghersh in 1822 with the help and ideas of the French harpist and composer Nicolas...
and Royal College of Organists
Royal College of Organists
The Royal College of Organists or RCO, is a charity and membership organisation based in the United Kingdom, but with members around the world...
. He was appointed an Officer of the Order of the British Empire
Order of the British Empire
The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is an order of chivalry established on 4 June 1917 by George V of the United Kingdom. The Order comprises five classes in civil and military divisions...
(OBE) in 1985, the Bach ter-centenary year. However, he would wish Bach to have the last honour: a portrait of the great composer would often be leaning against the conductor's rostrum, and then held high to rapturous applause at the end of the concert.
Dr. Steinitz died on 21 April 1988 at home in his beloved 18th century cottage in Old Oxted village after a short illness. He was a devout Quaker who held a passionate belief that music could contribute to peace by bridging political divides.
A public memorial to him was placed in the Cloister of St Bartholomew-the-Great
St Bartholomew-the-Great
The Priory Church of St Bartholomew the Great is an Anglican church located at West Smithfield in the City of London, founded as an Augustinian priory in 1123 -History:...
, West Smithfield, in the City of London. It was provided by public subscription, created by Richard Kindersley and unveiled in 1991 by the serving Lord Mayor of London
Lord Mayor of London
The Right Honourable Lord Mayor of London is the legal title for the Mayor of the City of London Corporation. The Lord Mayor of London is to be distinguished from the Mayor of London; the former is an officer only of the City of London, while the Mayor of London is the Mayor of Greater London and...
Sir Alexander Grahame GBE. The ceremony was followed by an all-Bach concert that reflected the musical forces Steinitz was advocating, now being handed on to the next generation to take forward. The programme of Bach's seasonal cantatas, the famous Chaconne and Third Suite was given to a distinguished audience of public figures, musicians and supporters. It was a fitting memorial and provided encouragement for the future, the seamless continuity Dr. Steinitz wanted so much to take place after his death.
At the opening of the London Bach Festival that celebrated the LBS Golden Jubilee in 1996, the composer John Tavener
John Tavener
Sir John Tavener is a British composer, best known for such religious, minimal works as "The Whale", and "Funeral Ikos"...
paid tribute to Paul Steinitz for his contribution to British musical life and to the London Bach Society. He said: "I do not think that Paul was ever truly recognised and I think that England should hang its head in shame…… without him the London Bach Society would not have existed. "
Paul Steinitz is survived by his wife Margaret whom he married in 1976, and by two sons, one of whom is the founder of the Huddersfield Contemporary Music Festival Professor Richard Steinitz, and a daughter from previous marriages. Today Mrs Steinitz continues her husband's work and has developed the London Bach Society to incorporate Steinitz Bach Players and an annual Bachfest, and she is Artistic Director. In 2001, she became an Honorary Associate of the Royal Academy of Music (Hon.ARAM) and was awarded the Officer's Cross of the German Order of Merit in 2006.
Dr. Steinitz' centenary was reflected appropriately at the London Bach Society's Bachfest in 2009 and by other organisations with whom he was closely associated. Care was taken to present a series that was active rather than passive in keeping with Dr. Steinitz' own approach to Bach study and performance. A concert in the Royal Academy of Music/Kohn Foundation Bach Cantata series was dedicated to him, a Steinitz Bach String Prize was inaugurated at the Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama, a special Bach Cantata concert performed by Steinitz Bach Players and an array of contemporary Bach singers was presented in the Priory Church of St. Bartholomew the Great and a new 18-30 Bach Club founded. In 2010 a development campaign was launched at the London Bach Society's 20th Bachfest entitled "Bach for Life",a five-year project, the chief aim of which is to secure a central headquarters for the London Bach Society. The 21st Bachfest will take place in November 2011.
External links
- http://www.bach-cantatas.com/Bio/Steinitz-Paul.htm
- http://www.bachlive.co.uk/
- http://www.dorsetbach.org.uk/missionstatement.html