An Organ for the Sultan

Available for over a year

In a swashbuckling tale of perilous pirates, Ottoman eunuchs, and English heroism, Ben Cottam unearths the story of the craftsman behind one of the most famous organs in the world. As King's College Chapel Cambridge prepare for their Christmas Eve service, Ben hunts for fragments of the organ’s original builder, the young Lancastrian Thomas Dallam. Dallam found himself with an unexpectedly important mission. Elizabeth I tasked him with building, and delivering, an organ so spectacular it would woo the most powerful man in the world, Sultan Mehmet III. It had to transform the Ottoman Empire’s perception of England and shift the balance of international relations. Ben retraces Dallam’s journey to the Topkapi Palace through his colourful diary as the crew survive relentless storms, dodge imprisonment and take bribes from brigands. Dallam finally delivers the water-soaked organ only, unexpectedly, to be asked to play it for the Great Turk himself. Dallam has peeped inside the hareem, the first westerner ever to do so. Does he pull off a diplomatic masterstroke through musical diplomacy, or does Dallam lose both England’s trade routes and his head? Hunting for fragments of Dallam, Ben ascends the stairs of the King's College Chapel organ with Daniel Hyde and listens to him capture the sounds of the 16th century craftsman; he talks music diplomacy with Britain’s “singing ambassador” and roves through the glorious Cecil family home where he finds William Whitehead playing their 17th century family organ. Contributors: Daniel Hyde, conductor and organist; Nandini Das, Professor of Early Modern Literature and Culture; Matthew Dimmock Professor of Early Modern Studies; Assistant Professor of English, Jennifer Linhart Wood; author and Dallam expert John Mole; Vannis Jones Rahi, Hatfield House Head Archivist, The British Library's medieval manuscripts curator Calum Cockburn and Former British Ambassador Hugh Philpott. Producer: Sarah Bowen