Discovery of unknown Bach pieces
Following elaborate investigation work, two pieces of music were now attributed to Johann Sebastian Bach and performed in the St. Thomas Church in Leipzig.
Leipzig (dpa) – Following decades of research work, the Leipzig Bach Archive has identified two previously non-attributed organ pieces as early works of Johann Sebastian Bach (1685–1750), and arranged for them to be performed. The musicologist and archive director Peter Wollny identified the two chaconnes in D minor and G minor as being the work of Bach who was aged 18 at the time. The Dutch organist Ton Koopman performed the two pieces, which are around 14 minutes long, for the first time. Another performance is to take place at the St. Thomas Church in Leipzig on Saturday.
Cultural Secretary Wolfram Weimer described the event as being of national importance and a “defining moment for the world of music”. He continued by saying that Wollny’s work resembled that of “an investigator exploring criminological details” and that Bach was “a world star” whose music linked epochs and generations.
