The catalogue of Bach’s works will now be expanded with two new compositions: the Ciacona in D minor BWV 1178 and the Ciacona in G minor BWV 1179. After years of research, Peter Wollny, Director of the Bach Archive Leipzig, was able to attribute these compositions with certainty to Johann Sebastian Bach, following the discovery that the copies, produced around 1705, were made by his student Salomon Günther John.
Prof. Dr. Dr. h. c. Peter Wollny explains:
“Today we can state with certainty that the copies made around 1705 were created by Salomon Günther John, a pupil of Bach. Stylistically, these works also display characteristics typical of Bach’s compositions from that period, features not found in the works of any other composer. I would like to express my sincere gratitude to my colleagues at the Royal Library of Belgium and the Bach Archive Leipzig for their years of support for this research. My thanks also go to the partners of our foundation – the Federal Government Commissioner for Culture and Media, the Free State of Saxony, and the City of Leipzig – for their continued confidence in the work of the Bach Archive and for the financial support that makes our mission possible.”
The works are preserved in a manuscript from the Fétis collection, a monumental ensemble compiled by musicologist and composer François-Joseph Fétis (1784–1871), the first director of the Royal Conservatory of Brussels. During his lifetime, he built up an extensive library, consisting mainly of music documents, which is now held at KBR.
This collection also includes an autograph manuscript by Bach: the Suite für Laute BWV 995 (an arrangement of the Fifth Cello Suite BWV 1011), available online via the KBR catalogue : https://opac.kbr.be/LIBRARY/doc/SYRACUSE/15305398
About this collection, Marie Cornaz, curator of the Music Department at the Royal Library of Belgium (KBR), says:
“With the François-Joseph Fétis collection (1784–1871), the Royal Library of Belgium preserves an exceptional treasure of precious manuscripts and prints from the 15th to the 19th century, of immense value to international musicological research. Our institution is one of the major reference libraries in Europe, and we are particularly pleased that our Bach collection is now being enriched with two new works.”
The two chaconnes have just been published by the music publisher Breitkopf & Härtel (Leipzig) and are now accessible to the public. Digital images of the KBR manuscript in which the works are transmitted are also available online : https://uurl.kbr.be/bib/15353870
The inaugural concert, the first public performance of these works in 320 years, performed in the Thomaskirche by Dutch organist Ton Koopman, is available on request via the channels of the Bach Archive Leipzig.
The Bach Archive Leipzig, the international research centre dedicated to Johann Sebastian Bach, celebrates its 75th anniversary in 2025. The institute studies the life, music, and legacy of the composer and the extensive Bach musical family. It also preserves and disseminates this heritage as a cultural and educational resource. The Bach Archive is part of the Conference of National Cultural Institutions and is one of Germany’s key cultural landmarks.
More information: www.bacharchivleipzig.de