To commemorate the hundredth anniversary of the end of World War One, Karl Jenkins' The Armed Man is to be performed in St. Mary's Church, Devizes over two nights on Friday and Saturday at 7.30pm.

The forty seven strong Fulltone Orchestra provides the music, and they are joined by The Invitation Theatre Company, Devizes Musical Theatre and Devizes Chamber Choir to make up a joint choir of eighty singers. Jemma Brown from the theatre company said: "This is the first time these groups have collaborated and it’s guaranteed to be a real thrill.

"This beautiful piece of music is described as anti-war and was written in the aftermath of the Kosovo Crisis almost twenty years ago. Musically it includes haunting melodies, Gregorian chant and a fifteenth century French folk song."

The Armed Man will provide the first half of the evening's entertainment, while the second half's content will look towards peace and harmony, featuring music from Lawrence of Arabia, Schindler's List and Saving Private Ryan plus songs The Lord's Prayer from Fanshawe’s African Sanctus, Barlow and Lloyd-Webber's Sing and culminating in World In Union. The latter have both been arranged by local musician Chris J Anderson.

Mrs Brown said: "Much of this music can be described as breathtaking. It features 10 year old Owen Davis-Brown doing his first ever solo, under the guiding hand of his dad Musical Director Anthony Brown." Chairman of TITCO Paul Morgan said: “This really is something so special - four well known groups coming together to mark 100 years, in the beautiful St Mary’s Church, raising money going to help our wounded soldiers. This is collaboration and commemoration on a huge scale. Yet again, Devizes has something so special happening in it. If I was coming to see it, I’d be hugely excited. The singing is stunning, the orchestra are top drawer - it will be two evenings of exceptional music.”

These are bound to be a moving and inspirational performances covering both the despair of war and hope for the future delivered by a full orchestra and talented choir. The last few tickets costing £14 are available from Devizes Books or www.ticketsource.co.uk/titco with proceeds going to Help for Heroes.