The Cahman organ and the Cahman days
The Cahman organ, which retains its original mechanism from 1728, is one of the most important instruments in Northern Europe.
After the Russian incursion of 1719 Lövstabruk was quickly rebuilt. No cost was spared for the church and its interior. The great organ, built by Johan Niclas Cahman and completed in 1728, was for a time one of the largest organs in the country. The highly eloquent facade, adorned with many sculptures, gives an impression of the rococo. Yet the instrument is a baroque organ of North German type, on which music by Buxtehude and Johann Sebastian Bach is often played. Listeners can hear how this baroque music was originally meant to sound.
The Lövstabruk organ is the sole remaining large Cahman instrument. It survived the great renovation craze of the 19th and early 20th centuries. The latest renovation, in 2004–2006, aimed to restore the organ, as far as possible, to its original condition.
Each year in August the Association of the Friends of Leufsta and the Cahman Organ organise Cahman Days, when music is played on the instrument. In addition, for the past couple of decades the Cahman organ has been the focus of an international organ academy.