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Recently identified organ compositions by the musical genius Bach have been unveiled and played in the European nation for the premiere performance in over three centuries.

Germany's Culture Minister Wolfram Weimer called the finding of the two pieces a "important event for the world of music".

They first caught the attention of a Bach researcher in the early nineties when he was documenting the composer's papers at the Belgian royal collection.

The musical compositions - the D minor Chaconne and Chaconne in G minor - were without dates and anonymous. The researcher spent the next 30 years working to authenticate the authorship of the pieces.

Landmark Presentation

They were presented at the historic Leipzig church in the German city, where Bach is laid to rest and where he was employed as a cantor for over two decades.

The compositions were executed by Dutch organist the renowned organist, who said he was proud to be able to perform them for the first time in three hundred twenty years.

He said the pieces were "remarkably sophisticated" and would be "a valuable resource for modern musicians, as they are also appropriate for more compact instruments".

Cultural Relevance

They are believed to have been created early in Bach's career, when he was serving as an organ instructor in the municipality of Arnstadt in Thuringia.

The scholar, who is now the leader of the Bach research center in Leipzig, said they demonstrated several qualities particular to the composer.

"Stylistically, the works also feature characteristics that can be observed in Bach's works from this period, but not in those of other musicians," he said.

They are believed to have been written down in the early eighteenth century by one of Bach's pupils, Salomon Günther John.

At a presentation of the pieces, the researcher said he was "99.99% sure that Bach had composed the two compositions" and they have now been incorporated into the recognized inventory of his works.