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Recently identified organ works by Johann Sebastian Bach have been revealed and played in Germany for the first time in over three centuries.

The country's Minister of Culture the cultural official called the finding of the pair of works a "important event for the musical community".

They originally drew interest of Peter Wollny in the early nineties when he was documenting historical musical documents at the Brussels archive.

The musical compositions - the Chaconne in D minor and G minor composition - were undated and unsigned. The researcher spent the following three decades working to authenticate the origin of the pieces.

Historic Performance

They were presented at the St Thomas Church in the eastern German municipality, where Bach is laid to rest and where he served as a cantor for twenty-seven years.

The pair of works were performed by Dutch organist Ton Koopman, who said he was proud to be able to perform them for the premiere in 320 years.

He said the compositions were "exceptionally well-crafted" and would be "a valuable resource for modern musicians, as they are also well-suited for reduced-scale organs".

Cultural Relevance

They are thought to have been written early in Bach's career, when he was employed as an organ teacher in the town of Arnstadt in Thuringia.

The researcher, who is now the director of the Bach research center in the municipality, said they exhibited several features unique to the musical genius.

"Stylistically, the compositions also include aspects that can be identified in Bach's works from that era, but not in those of any other composer," he said.

They are considered to have been transcribed in the early eighteenth century by Bach's apprentice, the historical figure.

At a revealing of the compositions, Mr Wollny said he was "99.99% sure that the composer had written the pair of works" and they have now been included into the recognized inventory of his compositions.