Rare Elgar manuscript heads for auction (From Malvern Gazette)

Rare Elgar manuscript heads for auction

11:29am Friday 1st December 2006 in News By Robert Hale

A RARE manuscript of an Elgar masterpiece, written while he lived in Malvern, will be auctioned later this month.

The proof score of the choral work, The Apostles, shows he only just finished it in time. The oratorio was premiered on October 14, 1903, but this proof shows it was ready for printing just six weeks before.

"Given that the vocal scores had then to be printed for the vast Birmingham Chorus to be able to rehearse the work - and this would have taken a couple of weeks - it is remarkable how close the whole project came to disaster," said Richard Westwood -Brookes, of Mullock Madeley auctioneers.

"Elgar always seemed to engage in brinkmanship with his greatest works and this seems to have happened with The Apostles.

"It is surprising because you would have thought he would have learned his lesson from the disastrous first performance of The Dream of Gerontius just three years earlier.

"This was caused mainly because the chorus didn't have enough rehearsal time because Elgar didn't complete the work until the last minute."

The score will be auctioned at Ludlow Racecourse on Wednesday, December 13, and is expected to fetch £700-£1,000.

The sale also features four of Elgar's letters, one about his Second Symphony, written while he was living in Hereford.