A set of original sketches and drafts by Sir Edward Elgar for one of his best-known compositions, the Introduction and Allegro for strings, has been acquired by the British Library.
Elgar completed the work in February 1905 and conducted the first performance a few weeks later. In 1930 he tore the sketches out of one of his sketchbooks and gave them to a friend.
Years later, that same sketchbook which contains sketches for some of his other works, was donated to the British Library.
The British Library states it is delighted that it can now reunite the torn-out pages with the sketchbook, almost 100 years after Elgar removed them
The British Library has around 100,000 pieces of manuscript music, 1.6 million items of printed music and 2 million music recordings?
Read more about this story at the British Library blog: Elgar’s musical sketches reunited at the British Library