British Library acquires torn-out drafts of Edward Elgar masterpiece

Sketches for the 1905 work Introduction and Allegro for Strings by Sir Edward Elgar are now owned by the British Library and join the rest of its extensive Elgar collection. Photograph: The British Library Board

The British Library has acquired previously unknown sketches and drafts by Sir Edward Elgar for one of his best-known masterpieces, Introduction and Allegro for Strings.

Spanning 15 pages, they shed light on the creative process of Britain’s most revered composer. One bears the beginnings of an unknown organ piece on which he had started work.