Long-Forgotten Bach Works Played for First-Ever Performance in Three Centuries

Newly discovered organ works by the renowned composer Bach have been unveiled and played in the central European country for the first time in over three centuries.

The nation's Culture Minister Wolfram Weimer described the finding of the pair of works a "important event for the world of music".

They first caught the attention of Peter Wollny in 1992 when he was organizing Bach manuscripts at the Royal Library of Belgium.

The organ works - the D minor Chaconne and G minor composition - were undated and anonymous. The researcher spent the subsequent thirty years working to confirm the authorship of the pieces.

Landmark Presentation

They were presented at the St Thomas Church in the eastern German municipality, where the composer is buried and where he served as a cantor for twenty-seven years.

The compositions were executed by Dutch musician the musical performer, who said he was honored to be able to play them for the premiere in three hundred twenty years.

He said the compositions were "exceptionally well-crafted" and would be "an important addition for modern musicians, as they are also suitable for reduced-scale organs".

Musical Importance

They are thought to have been written during Bach's formative years, when he was working as an music instructor in the municipality of the Thuringian town in central Germany.

The scholar, who is now the director of the Bach research center in Leipzig, said they displayed several features distinctive to the artist.

"Stylistically, the works also contain aspects that can be identified in the composer's creations from that time, but not in those of different artists," he said.

They are believed to have been transcribed in 1705 by a student of Bach, Salomon Günther John.

At a presentation of the works, Mr Wollny said he was "almost completely confident that Bach had created the two pieces" and they have now been included into the authoritative listing of his musical output.