The BBC is to spearhead a drive to encourage primary school children to take an interest in classical music with the aid of leading lights such as violinist Nicola Benedetti.

It hopes to use performances of familiar tunes such as Grieg's In The Hall Of The Mountain King and Mars from Holst's Planets as a springboard to fire their imagination.

The project, called Ten Pieces, has enlisted "ambassadors" including West Kilbride-born Benedetti, trumpet player Alison Balsom and harpist Catrin Finch to encourage youngsters to try their hand at composition.

Schools across the UK will have access to cinema screenings of a specially prepared film featuring the works, performed by the BBC National Orchestra of Wales.

Other works in the film are Beethoven's Symphony No 5, Britten's Storm interlude (from Peter Grimes), Handel's Zadok The Priest and Mozart's Horn Concerto No 4.

The line-up is completed by more contemporary works, with the specially written Connect It by Anna Meredith and Short Ride In A Fast Machine by John Adams.

Pupils will be asked to respond to what they have heard through their own compositions, preparing dance moves or through digital art, and there will be support from BBC Learning.

Ten Pieces, which will get under way in the autumn school term, is said to be the corporation's biggest commitment to music education and it is working with around 150 partners

Unveiling the project yesterday, BBC director-general Tony Hall said it was about "the BBC taking a lead with others to say 'classical music matters'".

He added: "It's a great role for the BBC. I know we inform, educate and entertain, but we can also inspire."

Ofsted said last year that a Government initiative to create specialist hubs for music, introduced in 2011, had "not been successful enough".

Schools can sign up to take part in the project at bbc.co.uk/tenpieces and the work created by youngsters will be celebrated next year.