I think this might be a first. The composer Brett Dean has created a violin concerto called The Lost Art of Letter Writing. He, like all of us, lament that letter writing is less-and-less a part of our daily lives. This concerto utilizes real letters which are read and integrated into the beginning of each movement.

You can read more about it at the Boosey & Hawkes web site At the bottom is a link that says “audio/visual”. You can click that to go to a page that has a sample of the concerto.

Photo credit: Kaitlin M.

Tags: brett dean, fresh link, letter writing, letters, lost art of letter writing, Music, violin concerto

Well, I recently read an article in which letter writing has been put on the endangered species list along with pit toilets, phone landlines, VCRs, swimming holes, honey bees and bowling alleys (among others).

They’ve listed hand-written letters as #9, but it’s interesting to read the whole list.

Now, you know what happens when something gets on an endangered list. People get nostalgic and rush out and start movements to create awareness. Can we be bold and energetic and keep letter writing alive? Can each of you influence one or two friends to write more letters? Let’s do it, let’s keep it alive.

Tags: death of letter writing, endangered species, letter writing, letters, lost art of letter writing, vanishing tradition