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Newly discovered organ works by the musical genius Bach have been presented and executed in the central European country for the first time in 320 years.

Germany's Cultural Affairs Minister the cultural official called the discovery of the two pieces a "significant occasion for the musical community".

They initially attracted notice of a Bach researcher in 1992 when he was organizing historical musical documents at the Belgian royal collection.

The organ pieces - the D minor Chaconne and Chaconne in G minor - were undated and anonymous. Mr Wollny spent the next 30 years working to confirm the authorship of the pieces.

Landmark Presentation

They were performed at the historic Leipzig church in the German city, where the composer is laid to rest and where he was employed as a cantor for twenty-seven years.

The compositions were executed by Dutch organist Ton Koopman, who said he was proud to be able to present them for the first time in 320 years.

He said the compositions were "of a very high quality" and would be "a valuable resource for organists today, as they are also appropriate for smaller organs".

Cultural Relevance

They are considered to have been composed early in Bach's career, when he was serving as an organ teacher in the town of the German town in the German region.

The scholar, who is now the leader of the Bach Archive in the city, said they exhibited several characteristics distinctive to the musical genius.

"Musically, the works also include characteristics that can be observed in Bach's compositions from this period, but not in those of any other composer," he said.

They are thought to have been recorded in 1705 by a student of Bach, the musical student.

At a unveiling of the works, the expert said he was "virtually certain that the composer had composed the pair of works" and they have now been included into the authoritative listing of his compositions.