A music festival is celebrating a coup after landing the world premiere of a new work by a leading composer inspired by the earliest surviving Welsh poem.

The BBC National Orchestra of Wales will perform Gareth Glyn’s new orchestral work, based on Y Gododdin, in which the 7th century bard, Aneirin, tells the story of a famous battle.

The work will be performed at the North Wales International Music Festival in St Asaph Cathedral in a concert sponsored by the Pendine Park care organisation on Saturday, September 27.

Glyn, 62, previously worked with Oscar-winning film director Danny Boyle to provide one of the musical arrangements for the spectacular opening ceremony of the London 2012 Olympic Games.

He says his new work, commissioned jointly by the festival and Tŷ Cerdd or Music Centre Wales - will begin with a horn call, which signifies a call to arms.

It will be played at the final concert of this year’s festival - which is being supported by the Welsh Arts Council.

Artistic director Ann Atkinson said: “To have a composer as talented as Gareth living and working in North Wales is wonderful and I’m sure our audience will be excited and thrilled by his new work.

“Y Gododdin is a legendary piece of writing and contains some iconic quotes that every Welsh speaker knows so well.

“We are indebted to Tŷ Cerdd for the support in commissioning this exciting new piece piece which will be a highlight of this year’s festival.”

Originally, Gareth Glyn had been commissioned to write an orchestral piece entitled Every Day of the Night, inspired by a theme from Under Milk Wood, but contractual issues with the estate of the author Dylan Thomas meant the idea had to be abandoned.

The composer has lived on Anglesey for many years after being educated in Cardiff and at Ysgol Maes Garmon in Mold, before graduating in music from Merton College, Oxford.

He was thrilled to learn from festival organisers that the concert will be transmitted live on Radio 3.

Aneirin’s poem tells of the men of Gododdin’s muster to battle and subsequent heavy defeat fighting the Angles of Deira and Bernicia at a place called Catraeth, now known as Catterick in North Yorkshire.

Although the battle happened in AD 600, Glyn says it has similar sentiments to the 100th anniversary of the start of the First World War.

He said: “It’s the idea of men coming together and fighting in huge numbers with so many dying but following those actions with the act of remembrance. It isn’t quite a parallel as our First World War soldiers didn’t lose the war of course but, sadly, so many died fighting what was really a senseless war.

“I’m certain there are no copyright issues connected to such an ancient piece of work from the 7th Century like Y Gododdin!

“It has been a thrill writing the piece based on Y Gododdin, a real honour actually. This was a time when there was no England or Scotland, it was just Britain and the ancient language spoken at that time evolved into the Welsh of today.”

Call the box office on 01745 850197 or visit the Scala Cinema and Arts Centre at 47 High Street, Prestatyn. For more information about the North Wales International Music Festival visit www.nwimf.com .