🔗 Share this article

Newly discovered organ compositions by Johann Sebastian Bach have been unveiled and performed in Germany for the initial occasion in 320 years.

The country's Culture Minister the government representative labeled the discovery of the two compositions a "significant occasion for the world of music".

They first caught the attention of a Bach researcher in 1992 when he was organizing Bach manuscripts at the Belgian royal collection.

The organ pieces - the D minor Chaconne and Chaconne in G minor - were without dates and anonymous. Mr Wollny spent the subsequent thirty years working to authenticate the identity of the pieces.

Historic Performance

They were performed at the Thomas Church in Leipzig, where Bach is buried and where he served as a church musician for twenty-seven years.

The compositions were played by Dutch organist Ton Koopman, who said he was proud to be able to perform them for the initial performance in 320 years.

He said the works were "remarkably sophisticated" and would be "an important addition for organists today, as they are also appropriate for more compact instruments".

Historical Significance

They are considered to have been composed during Bach's formative years, when he was employed as an organ teacher in the town of Arnstadt in the German region.

The scholar, who is now the head of the Bach Archive in the municipality, said they exhibited several qualities distinctive to the composer.

"Musically, the compositions also feature elements that can be found in Bach's works from this period, but not in those of different artists," he said.

They are believed to have been transcribed in the early eighteenth century by Bach's apprentice, the historical figure.

At a presentation of the compositions, the researcher said he was "almost completely confident that Bach had composed the pair of works" and they have now been added into the recognized inventory of his musical output.