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Previously unknown organ works by Johann Sebastian Bach have been revealed and performed in the central European country for the premiere performance in over three centuries.

The nation's Minister of Culture Wolfram Weimer called the unearthing of the pair of works a "significant occasion for the musical community".

They first caught the attention of Peter Wollny in 1992 when he was documenting Bach manuscripts at the Brussels archive.

The organ works - the Chaconne in D minor and G minor Chaconne - were dating unknown and unsigned. The scholar spent the following three decades working to verify the authorship of the pieces.

Memorable Concert

They were played at the St Thomas Church in the eastern German municipality, where the composer is interred and where he worked as a church musician for 27 years.

The compositions were executed by Dutch musician the musical performer, who said he was privileged to be able to perform them for the first time in over three centuries.

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

Historical Significance

They are considered to have been written at the beginning of Bach's professional life, when he was serving as an organ teacher in the municipality of Arnstadt in Thuringia.

The scholar, who is now the head of the Bach Archive in the city, said they displayed several qualities particular to the artist.

"Stylistically, the pieces also feature aspects that can be identified in the composer's creations from this period, but not in those of any other composer," he said.

They are considered to have been transcribed in the early eighteenth century by one of Bach's pupils, Salomon Günther John.

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