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Recently identified musical pieces by the renowned composer Bach have been unveiled and played in the central European country for the initial occasion in 320 years.

Germany's Cultural Affairs Minister Wolfram Weimer described the discovery of the pair of works a "important event for the global music scene".

They originally drew interest of a Bach researcher in 1992 when he was cataloguing Bach manuscripts at the Royal Library of Belgium.

The musical compositions - the Chaconne composition in D minor and G minor composition - were dating unknown and unsigned. Mr Wollny spent the subsequent thirty years working to authenticate the origin of the pieces.

Historic Performance

They were presented at the St Thomas Church in the eastern German municipality, where the composer is interred and where he was employed as a church musician for 27 years.

The compositions were executed by Dutch musician Ton Koopman, who said he was privileged to be able to perform them for the premiere in three hundred twenty years.

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

Historical Significance

They are believed to have been written early in Bach's career, when he was employed as an organ instructor in the municipality of the German town in Thuringia.

Mr Wollny, who is now the director of the Bach Archive in the municipality, said they demonstrated several qualities particular to the artist.

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

They are thought to have been written down in the early eighteenth century by Bach's apprentice, the historical figure.

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