Johann Sebastian Bach’s previously unknown organ work was presented and performed in Germany for the first time in 320 years.
German Culture Minister Wolfram Weimer called the discovery of the two works “a great moment for the world of music.”
They first came to the attention of Peter Wollny, a researcher of the German composer and musician Peter Wollny, in 1992 when he cataloged Bach manuscripts at the Royal Library of Belgium in Brussels.
The organ works Chaconne in D minor BWV 1178 and Chaconne in G minor BWV 1179 are undated and unsigned. Mr. Wollny spent the next 30 years trying to identify the work.
The work was performed at St. Thomas Church in Leipzig, where Bach is buried and where he worked as a cantor for 27 years.
The two pieces were performed by Dutch organist Ton Koopman, who said he was proud to perform these two pieces after 320 years.
He said these pieces were “of very high quality” and “will be a great asset to today’s organists because they are suitable even for small organs.”
This piece is believed to have been composed early in the period when Bach worked as an organ teacher in the town of Arnstadt, Thuringia.
Mr. Volny, now director of the Leipzig Bach Archive, said these works showed some of the composer’s unique characteristics.
“Stylistically, the work contains features that can be found in Bach’s work from this period but not in the works of other composers,” he said.
This piece is believed to have been written in 1705 by Salomon Günther John, one of Bach’s students.
In announcing the works, Mr. Volny said he was “99.99% certain that Bach wrote both works” and that they have now been added to the official catalog of his works.
