Paul Stefan lived in Vienna from 1898, taking a doctorate in law in 1904 and studying music theory with Hermann Grädener and Arnold Schoenberg. He became a music critic, strongly advocating modern music, and played a leading role in the Ansorge-Verein in 1903. From 1922 to 1938 he was editor and a major contributor to Musikblätter des Anbruch . In 1922, he was one of the founders of the International Society for New Music, and served as the vice-president for its Austrian section.

In 1938, he emigrated via Switzerland and Portugal (1938‒41) to the USA, where he was correspondent to several newspapers and periodicals. He wrote many books on composers (Mahler, Schubert, Dvořák, and Bizet), conductors (Toscanini, Bruno Walter) and musical subjects (e.g. Viennese opera).

Stefan and Schenker

There seems to have been no contact or correspondence between the two men, but Schenker was aware of him as a moving force in the world of Viennese modern music and referred to him occasionally in his diaries.

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