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Previously unknown organ works by the musical genius Bach have been presented and performed in Germany for the premiere performance in 320 years.

Germany's Minister of Culture Wolfram Weimer called the finding of the two compositions a "significant occasion for the world of music".

They initially attracted notice of a Bach researcher in 1992 when he was organizing Bach manuscripts at the Royal Library of Belgium.

The musical compositions - the Chaconne composition in D minor and G minor Chaconne - were undated and anonymous. The scholar spent the subsequent thirty years working to confirm the identity of the pieces.

Landmark Presentation

They were played at the historic Leipzig church in the German city, where the composer is buried and where he worked as a cantor for twenty-seven years.

The pair of works were performed by Dutch musician the renowned organist, who said he was proud to be able to present them for the first time 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 appropriate for more compact instruments".

Historical Significance

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

Mr Wollny, who is now the leader of the Bach research center in Leipzig, said they demonstrated several features particular to the musical genius.

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

They are considered to have been written down in the early eighteenth century by Bach's apprentice, Salomon Günther John.

At a presentation of the pieces, the expert said he was "99.99% sure that the composer had created the two compositions" and they have now been incorporated into the official catalogue of his works.