🔗 Share this article

Previously unknown musical pieces by the renowned composer Bach have been presented and played in the European nation for the premiere performance in over three centuries.

The nation's Culture Minister the cultural official called the discovery of the two compositions a "significant occasion for the global music scene".

They originally drew interest of a Bach researcher in 1992 when he was cataloguing historical musical documents at the Brussels archive.

The organ works - the D minor Chaconne and Chaconne in G minor - were dating unknown and anonymous. The scholar spent the subsequent thirty years working to authenticate the identity of the pieces.

Landmark Presentation

They were performed at the Thomas Church in the German city, where the composer is laid to rest and where he served as a music director for over two decades.

The two pieces were played by Dutch musician the renowned organist, who said he was privileged to be able to play them for the first time in 320 years.

He said the works were "of a very high quality" and would be "a great asset for modern musicians, as they are also appropriate for more compact instruments".

Cultural Relevance

They are thought to have been written at the beginning of Bach's professional life, when he was serving as an organ instructor in the town of Arnstadt in Thuringia.

The scholar, who is now the leader of the Bach Archive in the municipality, said they displayed several characteristics unique to the artist.

"In terms of style, the works also include aspects that can be identified in Bach's works from that time, but not in those of any other composer," he said.

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

At a revealing of the pieces, the expert said he was "almost completely confident that the composer had written the pair of works" and they have now been added into the official catalogue of his musical output.