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]

• Albrecht Dümling: Die Gleichschaltung der musikalischen Organisationen im NS-Staat. In: Dietrich Schuberth (ed.): Kirchenmusik im Nationalsozialismus – Zehn Vorträge. Kassel 1995.
• Max Hinrichsen: Festgabe für Fritz Stein, zur Vollendung seines 80. Lebensjahres am 17. Dezember 1959, Bonn : Max-Reger-Institut, 1959.