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Newly discovered organ compositions by Johann Sebastian Bach have been unveiled and played in the European nation for the initial occasion in three hundred twenty years.

Germany's Minister of Culture Wolfram Weimer labeled the finding of the two compositions a "important event for the musical community".

They first caught the attention of a musical scholar in 1992 when he was documenting historical musical documents at the Royal Library of Belgium.

The organ pieces - the D minor Chaconne and Chaconne in G minor - were without dates and without attribution. The scholar spent the next 30 years working to verify the authorship of the pieces.

Historic Performance

They were presented at the Thomas Church in the eastern German municipality, where the composer is interred and where he worked as a music director for over two decades.

The pair of works were played by organist from the Netherlands the renowned organist, who said he was privileged to be able to present them for the first time in over three centuries.

He said the works were "of a very high quality" and would be "a great asset for contemporary organ players, as they are also suitable for more compact instruments".

Cultural Relevance

They are believed to have been created at the beginning of Bach's professional life, when he was serving as an organ instructor in the community of the Thuringian town in the German region.

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

"Stylistically, the works also include aspects that can be observed in Bach's compositions from that time, but not in those of other musicians," he said.

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

At a presentation of the compositions, the researcher said he was "almost completely confident that Bach had written the pair of works" and they have now been added into the authoritative listing of his works.