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Recently identified organ works by Johann Sebastian Bach have been unveiled and performed in the European nation for the initial occasion in over three centuries.

Germany's Minister of Culture Wolfram Weimer described the finding of the two compositions a "significant occasion for the musical community".

They first caught the attention of a Bach researcher in the early nineties when he was documenting the composer's papers at the Royal Library of Belgium.

The organ works - the D minor Chaconne and G minor Chaconne - were without dates and anonymous. The scholar spent the following three decades working to confirm the identity of the pieces.

Landmark Presentation

They were performed at the historic Leipzig church in Leipzig, where Bach is buried and where he was employed as a music director for 27 years.

The two pieces were performed 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 works were "remarkably sophisticated" and would be "a great asset for organists today, as they are also well-suited for more compact instruments".

Musical Importance

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

The researcher, who is now the director of the Bach research center in the city, said they exhibited several features particular to the artist.

"Musically, the compositions also feature aspects that can be observed in the composer's creations from that era, but not in those of any other composer," he said.

They are believed to have been written down in 1705 by one of Bach's pupils, the historical figure.

At a presentation of the pieces, the expert said he was "almost completely confident that the composer had created the pair of works" and they have now been incorporated into the authoritative listing of his musical output.