We got one of the best organists in the world to play on one of the biggest organs ever made – improvising on themes suggested by you

31 October 2016, 11:41 | Updated: 5 January 2017, 17:22

Wayne Marshall is one of today’s very best organists – so we thought we’d set him a challenge. Here's what happened when we asked him to play an improvisation on pieces suggested *by you*

Here’s the Royal Festival Hall organ

It has 7,866 pipes – the longest of which is 32 feet. The whole organ is over 60 feet (or 18 metres) wide and each of the four manuals (that's keyboards to you and me) have 61 notes.

And here’s Wayne Marshall, one of the world’s top organists

We asked you to get in touch with themes for him to improvise on. Here are some of your suggestions:

And here’s what he actually played.

First, he kicked off with the theme from Mission Impossible, turning it into a majestic organ symphony

Then he wove in John Williams’ Harry Potter theme

Then: Phantom of the Opera meets Verdi’s Requiem

On paper this sounds insane: Andrew Lloyd Webber’s music from Phantom of the Opera with the Dies Irae from Verdi’s Requiem as a counter-theme.

And insane it actually was…

Rachmaninov’s Vocalise also made an appearance

Here’s the whole epic 20 minutes improvisation.

Sit back, relax and let the awesomeness transport you…

And if you want to hear the Royal Festival Hall's organ in action, there are plenty of opportunities in their International Organ Series.