Long-Forgotten Johann Sebastian Bach Compositions Played for First-Ever Performance in 320 Years
Recently identified musical pieces by the musical genius Bach have been revealed and performed in Germany for the first time in 320 years.
The nation's Minister of Culture the government representative labeled the finding of the two pieces a "significant occasion for the musical community".
They first caught the attention of Peter Wollny in 1992 when he was organizing Bach manuscripts at the Brussels archive.
The musical compositions - the D minor Chaconne and G minor Chaconne - were dating unknown and anonymous. The scholar spent the following three decades working to verify the origin of the pieces.
Historic Performance
They were played at the Thomas Church in the German city, where the composer is laid to rest and where he served as a music director for 27 years.
The two pieces were played by Dutch organist Ton Koopman, who said he was honored to be able to present them for the initial performance in three hundred twenty years.
He said the pieces were "exceptionally well-crafted" and would be "a great asset for organists today, as they are also well-suited for smaller organs".
Cultural Relevance
They are thought to have been composed early in Bach's career, when he was serving as an music instructor in the town of the Thuringian town in central Germany.
The researcher, who is now the director of the Bach Archive in Leipzig, said they displayed several qualities particular to the musical genius.
"Musically, the works also contain characteristics that can be observed in the composer's creations from that time, but not in those of other musicians," he said.
They are believed to have been recorded in the early eighteenth century by one of Bach's pupils, the musical student.
At a unveiling of the compositions, Mr Wollny said he was "99.99% sure that Bach had composed the pair of works" and they have now been incorporated into the authoritative listing of his compositions.
- European Culture
- Germany
- Classical compositions
- Music