Previously unknown organ compositions by Johann Sebastian Bach have been unveiled and performed in Germany for the first time in 320 years.
German Culture Minister Wolfram Weimer hailed the discovery of the two pieces as a “great moment for the world of music”.
The works initially garnered the attention of Peter Wollny, a Bach scholar, in 1992 while cataloging 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 without signature. Mr. Wollny dedicated the subsequent 30 years to validating the authenticity of the pieces.
They were performed at St Thomas Church in Leipzig, the final resting place of Bach, where he also served as cantor for 27 years.
Dutch organist Ton Koopman played the two pieces, expressing his pride in being able to present them for the first time in 320 years.
He described the pieces as being “of a very high quality” and “a great asset for organists today, as they are also suitable for smaller organs”.
It is believed they were composed early in Bach’s career, during his time as an organ instructor in Arnstadt, Thuringia.
Mr. Wollny, currently the director of the Bach Archive in Leipzig, stated that the compositions exhibited distinctive characteristics unique to the composer.
“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,” he noted.
The scores are thought to have been transcribed in 1705 by Salomon Günther John, one of Bach’s students.
At the works’ presentation, Mr. Wollny expressed “99.99% certainty that Bach had written the two pieces,” and they have now been incorporated into the official catalogue of his works.
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