Two long-lost organ pieces by JS Bach performed for first time in 300 years

"Two long-lost organ pieces by Johann Sebastian Bach have been performed in Germany, roughly 320 years after the composer wrote them as a teenage music teacher. Entitled Chaconne in D minor BWV 1178 and Chaconne in G minor BWV 1179, the pieces were added to the official catalogue of Bach's works on Monday and played in public for the first time in three centuries inside Leipzig's St Thomas Church, where Bach is buried."

"Several years ago, Wollny's co-researcher, Bernd Koska, discovered a letter from 1729, with similar handwriting by a hitherto unknown organist called Salomon Gunther John, who claimed to have been one of Bach's pupils in Arnstadt, Thuringia. It was only when the researchers managed recently to track down an earlier court document written by John with matching handwriting that they were certain that he had written down the score under Bach's watch in 1705."

"I searched for a long time for the missing piece of the puzzle to identify the compositions now the whole picture is clear, Wollny said at Monday's presentation. I am 99.99% certain that Bach composed both of these works. JS Bach: where to start with his music The pieces are chaconnes, a musical form that typically uses series of variations over a short bass line. Wollny said the works were highly individual and complex,"

Two organ chaconnes, Chaconne in D minor BWV 1178 and Chaconne in G minor BWV 1179, were authenticated as works by Johann Sebastian Bach and performed in Leipzig's St Thomas Church roughly 320 years after composition. Researchers found anonymous, undated manuscripts in the Royal Library of Belgium in 1992 and later identified the copyist as Salomon Gunther John through a 1729 letter and an earlier court document matching his handwriting, placing the manuscript under Bach's supervision in 1705. Peter Wollny and Bernd Koska assembled evidence pointing to Bach's authorship, noting compositional features and fugue techniques characteristic of Bach. The pieces were added to the official Bach catalogue and played publicly for the first time in three centuries.

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