Missing Bach Pieces Presented for First Time in Three Centuries

Recently identified musical pieces by the renowned composer Bach have been presented and performed in Germany for the first time in 320 years.

Germany's Culture Minister the government representative called the unearthing of the two compositions a "significant occasion for the musical community".

They initially attracted notice of a Bach researcher in the early nineties when he was cataloguing historical musical documents at the Belgian royal collection.

The organ pieces - the D minor Chaconne and G minor Chaconne - were without dates and anonymous. The researcher spent the subsequent thirty years working to confirm the identity of the pieces.

Landmark Presentation

They were presented at the St Thomas Church in Leipzig, where Bach is laid to rest and where he was employed as a church musician for twenty-seven years.

The two pieces were performed by Dutch musician the musical performer, who said he was honored to be able to present them for the initial performance in three hundred twenty years.

He said the compositions were "exceptionally well-crafted" and would be "a great asset for organists today, as they are also appropriate for reduced-scale organs".

Musical Importance

They are thought to have been created during Bach's formative years, when he was employed as an organ instructor in the municipality of the Thuringian town in the German region.

Mr Wollny, who is now the director of the musical archive in the city, said they demonstrated several characteristics distinctive to the musical genius.

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

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

At a unveiling of the pieces, the expert said he was "almost completely confident that Bach had created the two compositions" and they have now been added into the authoritative listing of his musical output.