A COMPLETE signed manuscript of Elgar's last major work is expected to reach £30,000 when it is auctioned by Sotheby's in London.

The 98-page Severn Suite was composed in 1930, four years before Elgar's death, and dedicated to his friend, Irish playwright George Bernard Shaw.

It will be sold off on Friday, December 8, as one of the lots in an auction of printed and manuscript music.

The manuscript is the complete copy of the composition, written for and first performed at the Crystal Palace Brass Band Festival in September 1930.

"This is a splendid, colourful manuscript of a large-scale work by Elgar, of which it was formerly believed that the composer had provided only a short score," said a Sotheby's spokesman.

"The manuscript is written with great verve, showing all the confidence of a composer whose use of the brass in his symphonic works was fulsome and exemplary."

It is described as the full working score notated in black ink on 19 staves per page, with deletions, alterations, corrections and additions, many written in turquoise and red ink, and annotations in red and blue crayon.

The Elgar Birthplace and Museum, in Lower Broadheath, says it has yet to make a decision as to whether to make a bid for the manuscript.

"At the moment, it's a little premature to consider putting a bid in, we've only just heard about it," said Michael Messenger, chairman of the Elgar Museum Management Committee.

"It's one of the last scores from Elgar's life so it's quite important in that respect. It's highly desirable."

The museum is home to several of Elgar's compositions as well as letters and personal possessions.

"It would be good to have the original Severn Suite at the museum, but we're currently looking at whether we may be in a position to put a bid in for it," added Mr Messenger.

"We may need the help of a local business to bring it back to Worcestershire."