EVEN Sir Edward Elgar occasionally needed help with his work, a rare letter from the famous Worcestershire composer reveals.

The intriguing piece of correspondence, written from Elgar's Malvern home in 1902 to his publisher Novellos, asks for advice on his arrangement for an piece to mark the coronation of Edward VII.

Elgar - who was born in Lower Broadheath, near Worcester, in 1857 and lived in Worcester, Malvern and Hereford for part of his life - had been asked to write the arrangement for a special gala performance to be held that year on the eve of the coronation.

However, the performance never actually took place because the King developed a serious illness and the coronation had to be postponed.

The letter reads: "I have retained the drum roll. If you think the repetition of the verse makes it too long, sections A-B & C to D may be omitted - marking the remaining sections (B-C & D-E) solo soprano or chorus.

"I think a variation of the harmony comes in well here - but you must please say if it strikes you as being strange, that is to say damping to the Man in the Street..."

The letter is being sold by auctioneers Mullock Madeley at a specialist sale at Ludlow Racecourse tomorrow.

It is one of four Elgar letters which will go under the hammer and is expected to fetch between £200 and £500.

Richard Westwood-Brookes, documents expert at Mullock Madeley, said: "The letter provides an intriguing insight into Elgar's compositional methods at the time.

"Letters of Elgar such as this are quite rare on the market. He rarely discussed his methods of composition and it's certainly interesting to see how he was prepared to seek advice on whether his treatment of a popular work such as this would be acceptable to the public."