THE rounds of applause after Leominster Choral Society's spirited version on Sunday of The Armed Man by Karl Jenkins were an eloquent tribute to the power of the music.

Subtitled A Mass for Peace, it received its first performance in Herefordshire under the baton of Vernon Thurgood.

Since Jenkins wrote it as a Millennium project, it has been embraced by choral societies all over the land. Leominster was right to try it, as part of the town's ongoing arts festival.

The space and acoustics of Leominster Priory were ideal for the rendering by Ismail Ginwalla of the Islamic Call to Prayer that forms the second section of the work.

They also added bite to the virtuoso percussion players from the Regency Sinfonietta.

Soprano Gemma Busfield was one of four soloists from the Birmingham Conservatoire along with contralto Reisha Adams, tenor Matthew Hale and bass baritone Matthew Wright.

All four sang splendidly in the Jenkins while, thanks to Vernon Thurgood's firm control, the Choral Society was fully in command of its tremendous technical difficulties.

The important thing is that the music's message, about the obscenity of war, has much more guts and depth when performed in a great church rather than on a CD player at home. Maybe the Ludlow Choral Society should consider it for 2006. Michael Baws