Bach’s oldest scripts found
The oldest known manuscripts of Johann Sebastian Bach -- handwritten copies of works by two other composers -- have been discovered in a German library that was heavily damaged in a fire two years ago, researchers said Thursday.
The two manuscripts date from around 1700 and contain copies Bach made of organ music composed by Dietrich Buxtehude and Johann Adam Reincken, said Hellmut Seemann, president of the Foundation of Weimar Classics.
Researchers found the documents in the archives of the Duchess Anna Amalia Library in Weimar, where a previously unknown aria by Bach was discovered last year.
The library, housed in a 16th century palace, was badly damaged by a fire in September 2004. While some 50,000 books were lost, the Bach manuscripts survived because they had been stored in the vault.
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