Lost Bach Pieces Performed for First-Ever Performance in Three Centuries

Previously unknown organ compositions by the musical genius Bach have been presented and performed in the European nation for the first time in 320 years.

The nation's Minister of Culture the cultural official called the discovery of the pair of works a "important event for the musical community".

They first caught the attention of Peter Wollny in 1992 when he was cataloguing Bach manuscripts at the Brussels archive.

The musical compositions - the Chaconne in D minor and G minor composition - were dating unknown and unsigned. The researcher spent the next 30 years working to authenticate the identity of the pieces.

Landmark Presentation

They were performed at the St Thomas Church in Leipzig, where Bach is laid to rest and where he worked as a music director for over two decades.

The compositions were performed by Dutch musician the musical performer, who said he was privileged to be able to present them for the initial performance in 320 years.

He said the works were "of a very high quality" and would be "an important addition for modern musicians, as they are also suitable for reduced-scale organs".

Cultural Relevance

They are considered to have been composed at the beginning of Bach's professional life, when he was serving as an music instructor in the town of the German town in the German region.

The scholar, who is now the head of the musical archive in Leipzig, said they demonstrated several characteristics unique to the composer.

"Musically, the compositions also include aspects that can be identified in Bach's compositions from this period, but not in those of different artists," he said.

They are considered to have been transcribed in the early eighteenth century by Bach's apprentice, Salomon Günther John.

At a presentation of the works, the researcher said he was "almost completely confident that the composer had written the pair of works" and they have now been included into the official catalogue of his works.