Paul Steinitz was born in Chichester, West Sussex, in the south of England in 1909. His father was an Anglican clergyman. He became a student at the Royal Academy of Music, studying under George Oldroyd. He was a very good organist and got his FRCO diploma in 1930. In the 1930s he was Director of Music at the church of St. Mary's Ashford, Kent. There he became very interested in the music of Bach while studying for his Doctorate 