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Recently identified organ works by the musical genius Bach have been presented and executed in Germany for the first time in three hundred twenty years.

Germany's Culture Minister Wolfram Weimer called the discovery of the two pieces a "significant occasion for the global music scene".

They originally drew interest of Peter Wollny in 1992 when he was organizing Bach manuscripts at the Brussels archive.

The organ works - the Chaconne composition in D minor and Chaconne in G minor - were undated and anonymous. The researcher spent the subsequent thirty years working to authenticate the origin of the pieces.

Historic Performance

They were performed at the Thomas Church in the German city, where the composer is buried and where he worked as a church musician for twenty-seven years.

The pair of works were executed by organist from the Netherlands Ton Koopman, who said he was honored to be able to perform them for the premiere in over three centuries.

He said the compositions were "remarkably sophisticated" and would be "an important addition for organists today, as they are also suitable for reduced-scale organs".

Historical Significance

They are thought to have been written early in Bach's career, when he was working as an organ instructor in the community of the Thuringian town in Thuringia.

Mr Wollny, who is now the leader of the musical archive in the municipality, said they displayed several characteristics unique to the artist.

"In terms of style, the pieces also include elements that can be found in Bach's works from this period, but not in those of different artists," he said.

They are considered to have been written down in the early eighteenth century by one of Bach's pupils, the musical student.

At a revealing of the pieces, the expert said he was "99.99% sure that the composer had composed the pair of works" and they have now been incorporated into the official catalogue of his compositions.