🔗 Share this article

Newly discovered musical pieces by the musical genius Bach have been presented and executed in Germany for the premiere performance in 320 years.

The country's Minister of Culture the cultural official described the unearthing of the pair of works a "important event for the global music scene".

They first caught the attention of a musical scholar in 1992 when he was cataloguing historical musical documents at the Brussels archive.

The organ pieces - the Chaconne in D minor and Chaconne in G minor - were dating unknown and anonymous. Mr Wollny spent the following three decades working to verify the origin of the pieces.

Landmark Presentation

They were played at the historic Leipzig church in Leipzig, where Bach is laid to rest and where he was employed as a cantor for twenty-seven years.

The pair of works were played by Dutch musician the renowned organist, who said he was proud to be able to play them for the first time in 320 years.

He said the compositions were "of a very high quality" and would be "an important addition for organists today, as they are also suitable for more compact instruments".

Musical Importance

They are considered to have been composed at the beginning of Bach's professional life, when he was working as an organ instructor in the municipality of Arnstadt in the German region.

The scholar, who is now the leader of the musical archive in the municipality, said they displayed several features particular to the artist.

"Musically, the pieces also include aspects that can be found in Bach's works from this period, but not in those of any other composer," he said.

They are considered to have been transcribed in 1705 by one of Bach's pupils, Salomon Günther John.

At a revealing of the works, the expert said he was "99.99% sure that the composer had created the two compositions" and they have now been added into the recognized inventory of his compositions.