MUSIC by a composer killed in action during the First World War will form the centrepiece of concert at the weekend.

George Butterworth, a Lieutenant in the Durham Light Infantry, composed Shropshire Lad five years before he died at the Battle of the Somme, in 1916.

The concert, by Durham Sinfonia, will be held in Durham Cathedral at 7.30pm on Saturday.

Butterworth, a friend of Vaughan Williams and a pupil of Royal College of Music director Hubert Parry, wrote the orchestral rhapsody in 1911.

Born in London, he moved to York with his father, who became manager of the North Eastern Railway.

Butterworth was educated at Eton, and Trinity College, Oxford, and, for a short time, at the Royal College of Music.

During his year in the trenches, he was mentioned in dispatches for outstanding courage and awarded the Military Cross for his defence of a trench that was later named after him.

He led a successful raid during the Battle of the Somme, but was killed by a sniper on August 5.

Other works to be performed at the concert, under the baton of Philippe Bach, are the Sibelius Violin Concerto in D Minor, with soloist Geoffrey Silver, and Bartok's Concerto for Orchestra.

Durham Sinfonia is a large independent symphony orchestra comprising gifted players from the Durham and Newcastle area.

Tickets are £12, £10 for concessions, £6 for undergraduates and students with NUS card, and free for accompanied children under 16. Book on 0191-384-3720.