A NEW piece of music by Patrick Larley, musical director of the Ludlow Choral Society, has been slotted into a high-profile concert he is giving in St Laurence's Church on November 22.

Larley was inspired by a Chinese proverb whose last lines are: "When there is order in each nation, There will be peace in the world."

"I was first handed a copy of this proverb at the outset of the war with Iraq and have pondered the words many times over the last few months," he said.

Larley had several attempts at setting the text but they became too complicated for the simple nature of the message.

Then he struck lucky. "The answer finally came to me on the morning of June 3 and the piece was completed in just over an hour," he said.

The work Peace in the World is for solo soprano and string quartet and it received its first performance 18 days after Larley's flash of inspiration.

It features in the Britten Sinfonia's concert on November 22, Benjamin Britten's birthday, along with works by Haydn and Britten himself.

Tickets are still available from the Wool Shop, the Silk Top Hat Gallery and the Tourist Information Centre. The concert starts at 7.30pm.