Leipzig-based Bach researcher Peter Wollny has made a significant discovery in the world of classical music. After more than 30 years of research, Wollny has identified two previously anonymous organ works as the compositions of the legendary Johann Sebastian Bach. The pieces, Ciacona in D minor, BWV 1178 and Ciacona in G minor, BWV 1179, will receive their first performance in over 320 years in a livestreamed event from St Thomas’ Church in Leipzig.
The announcement was made on Monday 17 November, 2025, adding two new numbers to the index of Bach’s works (BWV). The ceremony was attended by Minister of State for Culture, Wolfram Weimer, and the Mayor of Leipzig, Burkhard Jung, and was livestreamed for the worldwide Bach community to witness.
Peter Wollny, who is also the director of the Leipzig Bach Archive, had been familiar with the two works for many years but was unable to attribute them to Bach until now. The pieces were found in the Royal Library of Belgium and it was during his work on the BACH Research Portal, a project by the Saxon Academy of Sciences and Humanities, that Wollny was able to finally complete the puzzle and confirm the scribe responsible for the compositions. The BACH Research Portal is a digital database that makes all available archive resources about the entire Bach family of musicians accessible to the public.
“I spent a long time searching for the missing piece of the puzzle in the attribution of the works – now the whole picture is revealed,” said Wollny. “We can state for once and for all that the copies were made around 1705 by Bach pupil Salomon Günther John. Moreover, stylistically the works contain features that one finds in Bach’s works from this period, but in those of no other composer.”
Wollny expressed his gratitude to his colleagues at the Royal Library of Belgium and the Leipzig Bach Archive for their support over the decades, as well as the sponsors of the Foundation – the Federal Government Commissioner for Culture and the Media, the Free State of Saxony, and the City of Leipzig – for their unwavering trust and financial support.
The Leipzig Bach Archive is a leading center of excellence for the study of Johann Sebastian Bach, located in the composer’s principal place of work. The BACH Research Portal is a project of the Saxon Academy of Sciences and Humanities, which is based at the Leipzig Bach Archive.
For press enquiries, please contact Prof. Dr. Dr. h. c. Peter Wollny, Director of the Leipzig Bach Archive, or Franziska von Sohl, Press Office Leipzig Bach Archive. They can be reached at +49(0341) 9137-121 or via email at von.sohl@bach-leipzig.de. Queries will be answered starting on 18 November, 10am (CET).
Photos for press coverage can be downloaded free of charge from https://www.picdrop.com/jensschlueterphotography/Bachwerke, using the password Bach2025. They will be available from approximately 5pm on 17 November 2025. Photo credits go to Leipzig Bach Archive/Jens Schlüter.
