Previously unknown organ works by Johann Sebastian Bach have been presented and performed in Germany for the first time in 320 years.
Germany's Culture Minister Wolfram Weimer called the discovery of the two pieces a great moment for the world of music.
They first caught the attention of Peter Wollny, a researcher of the German composer and musician, in 1992 while cataloguing Bach manuscripts at the Royal Library of Belgium in Brussels.
The organ works - the Chaconne in D minor BWV 1178 and Chaconne in G minor BWV 1179 - were undated and unsigned. Mr. Wollny spent the next 30 years working to confirm the identity of the pieces.
They were performed at the St. Thomas Church in Leipzig, where Bach is buried and served as a cantor for 27 years.
Performed by Dutch organist Ton Koopman, he expressed pride in presenting these compositions after such a long time. He stated that the pieces are of a very high quality and suitable for smaller organs, making them valuable additions to the repertoire.
These works are believed to have been composed early in Bach's career, while he was teaching organ in the town of Arnstadt, Thuringia.
Mr. Wollny, now director of the Bach Archive in Leipzig, asserted that the compositions exhibit several unique characteristics of Bach's style during this period.
He further emphasized, Stylistically, the works also contain features that can be found in Bach's works from this period, but not in those of any other composer.
The pieces were likely recorded in 1705 by one of Bach's pupils, Salomon Günther John.
At a presentation of the works, Mr. Wollny confidently stated he was 99.99% sure that Bach had written the two pieces, which have now been officially added to the catalogue of his works.
