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Newly discovered musical pieces by the renowned composer Bach have been revealed and executed in the European nation for the first time in three hundred twenty years.

The country's Culture Minister the government representative described the unearthing of the two compositions a "great moment for the musical community".

They initially attracted notice of a Bach researcher in 1992 when he was cataloguing historical musical documents at the Royal Library of Belgium.

The organ pieces - the Chaconne in D minor and Chaconne in G minor - were undated and anonymous. The scholar spent the following three decades working to authenticate the origin of the pieces.

Landmark Presentation

They were played at the Thomas Church in the German city, where the composer is interred and where he served as a music director for 27 years.

The compositions were performed by Dutch musician Ton Koopman, who said he was proud to be able to play them for the initial performance in over three centuries.

He said the pieces were "of a very high quality" and would be "an important addition for organists today, as they are also well-suited for reduced-scale organs".

Historical Significance

They are thought to have been composed during Bach's formative years, when he was employed as an organ teacher in the town of Arnstadt in central Germany.

Mr Wollny, who is now the leader of the Bach research center in the city, said they demonstrated several qualities distinctive to the composer.

"Musically, the pieces also contain aspects that can be observed in the composer's creations from that era, but not in those of any other composer," he said.

They are believed to have been written down in 1705 by a student of Bach, Salomon Günther John.

At a revealing of the compositions, the researcher said he was "virtually certain that the composer had created the two pieces" and they have now been incorporated into the recognized inventory of his compositions.