Missing Johann Sebastian Bach Compositions Presented for First-Ever Performance in Three Centuries
Newly discovered organ works by Johann Sebastian Bach have been presented and played in the central European country for the first time in three hundred twenty years.
The nation's Minister of Culture the cultural official described the discovery of the two compositions a "significant occasion for the musical community".
They initially attracted notice of a Bach researcher in 1992 when he was organizing the composer's papers at the Brussels archive.
The musical compositions - the D minor Chaconne and G minor Chaconne - were dating unknown and without attribution. The researcher spent the next 30 years working to verify the origin of the pieces.
Memorable Concert
They were played at the St Thomas Church in the German city, where Bach is buried and where he served as a church musician for twenty-seven years.
The two pieces were executed by Dutch organist the renowned organist, who said he was proud to be able to present them for the initial performance in 320 years.
He said the pieces were "remarkably sophisticated" and would be "an important addition for organists today, as they are also suitable for smaller organs".
Cultural Relevance
They are believed to have been composed at the beginning of Bach's professional life, when he was working as an music instructor in the municipality of Arnstadt in Thuringia.
The researcher, who is now the head of the Bach research center in the city, said they exhibited several characteristics unique to the artist.
"Stylistically, the compositions also contain aspects that can be identified in Bach's works from that era, but not in those of other musicians," he said.
They are considered to have been recorded in the early eighteenth century by one of Bach's pupils, the musical student.
At a unveiling of the pieces, Mr Wollny said he was "99.99% sure that the composer had composed the two pieces" and they have now been included into the recognized inventory of his works.
- European Culture
- Germany
- Orchestral works
- Musical Arts