SHERBORN - With a peace rally in downtown Boston and fighting in Iraq as a worldwide backdrop, a crowd that spanned generations gathered to hear Magical Strings perform their own world-influenced brand of Celtic music with an overriding theme of peace, during a coffeehouse concert last Saturday at the Peace Abbey in Sherborn.

Bringing an array of stringed and other instruments to the spartan stage in the basement of the Peace Abbey, Philip and Pam Boulding performed two sets of music, breaking each time with an original sonnet by Philip before taking time to talk with audience members, many of whom had personal connections with the Bouldings.

For those who had come from all over New England to see the peace-minded couple perform, the music took on a certain poignancy with the backdrop of war in the world.

"It was more profound [to play] in light of the current world situation," said Pam Boulding. "Our work has to carry on."

The Bouldings' performance ranged from traditional Irish pieces to original compositions composed after travels around the world. From an Irish jig that had toes tapping and heads nodding to a Polynesian folk tale and song Philip said he picked up in Maui, Magical Strings filled the room with sounds from the Celtic harp and hammered dulcimer, colorfully accompanied at times by a pennywhistle or concertina during the first half of their performance.

After an intermission, the show resumed with a song influences by the Bouldings' travels, including a Mongolian lullaby, traditional Spanish and French themes, and a solo on a "bamboo harp," an instrument popular in Madagascar.

After returning to their usual Celtic fare, the show concluded in a departure from a typical Magical Strings finish. Usually ending a performance with an upbeat song to send the crowd out, Philip told the audience they didn't feel that was appropriate in light of world events. Instead, Philip read a sonnet he composed last fall titled "Lament for All the World's Deceased."

"Through acts of peace, not war, thus setting free the soul's impassioned furies, there to tame," he read to the crowd, many of whom were visibly moved by the reading and conclusion of the evening.

Peace Abbey director Lewis Randa said the crowd was smaller than expected because many anti-violence activists who would have come had spent the day taking part at a peace rally at Boston Common. And while most in attendance agreed with the principle of the protest in Boston, coming to the Peace Abbey was another way to feel the need for peace in the world, and within themselves.

"It's nice that people were in Boston," said Sylvia Leach of Wellesley. "They were meant to be there, but we were meant to be here."

The Bouldings of Seattle were making their second visit to the Peace Abbey, a special place to them because of local connections that bring the group to the area. Philip's mother Elise Boulding, a nationally known peace activist and retired sociology professor at Dartmouth College, now lives in Needham.

Elise Boulding said she raised her son to be a peacemaker, which has been an important aspect of his music in the 25 years of touring with his wife Pam, and the 11 albums Magical Strings the duo has released.

"That was really good. It was peaceful, comforting," said Emily Leach, 12, the youngest member of the audience.

"They came at a very important time for a lot of us," said Mary Zepernick of Cape Cod, "It's good to be lifted out of the horror of war."