Baroque Magnificence: The 1705 Cahman Organ in Kölingared
In this third chapter of my research project about organ repertoire in 17th and 18th century Sweden, after my previous experiences in Övertorneå and Visby, I have selected some compositions to be recorded at Kölingared Church on Monday, July 28th 2025. Here follows an in-depth study, enriched by the recordings made during this historically informed performance project.
Many organists and organ builders with German origins were active in Sweden between the 16th and the 18th centuries, among others the Cahman family. Hans Heinrich Cahman (ca.1640-1699), originally from northern Germany – probably Flensburg or Hamburg – began his career as an organ builder at the Fritzsche workshop in Hamburg. Hans Heinrich married Anna-Christina Fritzsche (?-?), becoming son-in-law to Hans Christoph Fritzsche (ca.1629-1674), son of the renowned organ builder Gottfried Fritzsche (1578-1638). Hans Heinrich Cahman moved with the family to Sweden in 1685, where he opened an organ building workshop first in Växjö, then in Uppsala and later in Stockholm, building organs in the Northern German tradition, among others for Växjö Cathedral (1688-91, 27 stops on 2 manuals and pedal, destroyed by a fire in 1740) and Uppsala Cathedral (1692-98, 50 stops on 3 manuals and pedal, his masterpiece, destroyed by a fire in 1702). His only surviving work is the positive organ built in 1690 for Virestad’s Church, Diocese of Växjö, and today at the Småland Museum in Växjö. The façade shows many similarities with organs from the Hamburg tradition, with a high rounded central tower and double flats flanked by pointed outer towers.
Hans Heinrich’s son was Johan Niclas Cahman (ca.1680-1737), who will become one of the most representative names in 18th century Swedish organ building history. He was born in Flensburg and was trained at his father’s workshop. He built around 30 organs, mostly with a single manual, like the surviving positive organ at Drottningholm’s Castle Chapel (1730, 6 stops), but some of them were large 2-manual organs, like the today lost cathedral organs in Västerås (1701, 32 stops), Härnösand (1731, 23 stops, the façade and front pipes survive today), Uppsala (1731, 40 stops, built in place of his father’s lost masterpiece), Linköping (1733, 28 stops, the façade pipes survive today) and Göteborg (1733, 32 stops). The organ at Lövstabruk’s Church (1727, 28 stops) is the largest and most complete surviving example of his work, which has been extensively presented in commercial recordings, as it was used by the renowned Swedish organist Hans Fagius for his recordings of Bach’s complete organ works.
In February 1704, Johan Niclas Cahman was commissioned to build a new organ for Mariestad’s Cathedral in central Sweden. It was a 23-stop organ with two manuals (45 keys with short octave) and pedals (25 notes), which was completed in February 1705. In 1731 it was repaired by Olof Hedlund (ca.1707-1749) from Stockholm, a former apprentice of Cahman. The original disposition of this early Cahman organ was reported by Abraham Abrahamsson Hülphers (1734-1798) in his Historisk Afhandling (1773) as follows:
Manual (Great, 9 stops): Qwintadena 16, Principal 8, Spets-Fleut 8, Octawa 4, Qwinta 3, Octawa 2, Decima [1 3/5], Mixtur IV, Trumpet 8.
Rygg-Positiw (Positive, 6 stops): Gedagt 8, Principal 4, Fleut 4, Qwinta 3, Octawa 2, Scharf III.
Pedal (7 stops): Untersats 16, Principal 8, Octawa 4, Mixtur IV, Rausqwint II, Basun 16, Trumpet 8.
When the cathedral commissioned in 1864 a new organ in Romantic style to the Åkerman organ building company in Stockholm, the Cahman organ was removed and sold to Kölingared Church, Diocese of Skara, where it was partially installed by the local organ builder Svante Johansson (1828-1911) from Liared. Kölingared Church is a countryside church completed in 1850 to replace an older and smaller chapel. The spacious interior is today dominated by the beautifully ornated organ case placed in the gallery above the main entrance. Johansson added some 19th century stops in Classical style, removed the rückpositiv, enlarged the manual and pedal extensions and built new wind-chests and actions. Restoration works were completed in 1964 by the Jacoby organ company from Stockholm and in 2005 by the Ålems organ company from Blomstermåla. A big part of the original organ survives today, with components from 1705 and 1864. The organ has 15 stops, a single manual and pedal, the pitch is 460Hz, the tuning is Schiörlin (same as Neidhardt für ein Dorff 1724 and für eine kleine Stadt 1732). The present disposition is as follows:
Manual (54 keys, C-f3): Qvintadena 16, Principal 8, Flagflöjt 8, Fugara 8 (1864), Octava 4 (1864), Flöjt 4, Qvinta 3, Octava 2, Mixtur IV (2005), Trumpet 8 (2005/2011).
Pedal (30 notes, C-f1): Untersatz 16, Principal 8, Octava 4 (1864), Qvinta 6 (1864), Basun 16.
Pedal coupler.
To show the beautiful sound of the Cahman organ in Kölingared, I have recorded some organ works from the 18th century Swedish organ repertoire.
A composition directly related to Sweden is Sonatina by the German-born composer Christian Ritter (ca.1650-ca.1725), who became court organist in Halle before moving to Sweden to take the position of court organist in Stockholm between 1688 and 1699. He had already spent a short period in Stockholm in the early 1680’s before returning to Germany as Kammerorganist in Dresden. He spent his last years in Hamburg. This pedaliter organ piece is preserved in the manuscript known as the Andreas Bach Book preserved at the Leipzig State Library in Germany.
The German organist Wilhelm Karges (ca.1614-1699) was the assistant of Andreas Düben (1597/8-1662) at Stockholm Cathedral for a short period around 1645. Already in 1646, Karges left Stockholm to become the cathedral organist in Berlin. His surviving works for organ are only a few. I have recorded a free composition, Praeludium quarti toni, which is similar in style to durezze e ligature compositions, typical of the Southern German and Italian tradition. The source of this piece is the manuscript Am.B.340 preserved at Berlin State Library in Germany.
The last composer presented in Kölingared is the Swedish-born organist Ferdinand Zellbell the Elder (1689-1765). His family came to Sweden from Germany – probably from Celle – sometime between 1611 and 1632. Ferdinand Zellbell the Elder was active as an organist in Stockholm, first at St. Mary Magdalene’s Church and then at the Cathedral and the Royal Court until 1751. He was a respected organist, with a good reputation among his contemporaries, among others the composer Johan Helmich Roman (1694-1758). The cathedral organ in Stockholm was enlarged during Zellbell’s time by the organ builder Johan Niclas Cahman by the end of 1726. His son, Ferdinand Zellbell the Younger (1719-1780) was also active as an organist in Stockholm, and a small book of eight very short preludes in Classical style have come down to us. The source of Zellbell the Elder's preludes is a keyboard manuscript preserved at the Library of the Royal Swedish Academy of Music in Stockholm, signed autor et possessor Ferdinand Zellbell, and containing short preludes, both manualiter and pedaliter. The Praeludium manualiter which I present here shows the title heading Praelude Manualiter F♮ and, after the final bar, the date 1728 d. 26 januarii, meanwhile the pedaliter one reports the title heading Pro Exitu G♭, and the date 1721 2 junii.
Below are the registrations used for the recordings in Kölingared, now available in a video on my YouTube channel (@gnudiorganist):
Christian Ritter – Sonatina
Bars 1-16: Man: Pr 8, Oct 4 / Ped: Unt 16, Pr 8, Oct 4
Bars 17-55: +Oct 2
Bars 55-69: +Mixt, Bas 16
Bars 70-end: +Tr 8, Pedal coupler
Wilhelm Karges – Praeludium quarti toni
Man: Pr 8 / Ped: Unt 16, Pr 8
Ferdinand Zellbell – Praeludium i F- dur [manualiter]
Bars 1-75: Man: Fl 8, Fl 4
Bars 76-122: + Q 3
Bars 123-end: +Oct 2
Ferdinand Zellbell – Praeludium i G-dur [pedaliter]
Bars 1-30: Man: Pr 8, Fl 8, Oct 4, Q 3, Oct 2, Mixt / Ped: Unt 16, Pr 8, Oct 4, Bas 16, Pedal coupler
Bars 31-45: -Mixt, Bas 16
Bars 46-end: +Mixt, Tr 8, Bas 16
I have long thought about visiting Kölingared’s Church but have never had the right opportunity before this occasion. Once inside the church, the organ attracts the eye with its monumentality. I was impressed by the beauty and elegance of the façade decorations, which shares many characteristics – especially the disposition of the fields – with other Cahman organs I had visited before. Despite the 19th century alterations, the few stops added by Johansson in 1864 harmonise quite well with the original 18th century pipe material. The key action is quite heavy, and the keys have quite a long run in depth. Thank you to the parish musician Ann-Katrin Johansson for her kind help in arranging the visit to the beautiful Cahman organ in Kölingared.
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