The Once and Future Nostalgia

The recorded message said, “your call is important to us.” I must say, I was really impressed that they knew it was me calling.

– Postcards From Red Squirrel Trail

I told the truth, Lord. How can I learn any moral lessons, if you keep confusing me like this?

— Matthew Broderick in Ladyhawke

A small fact which came to light after this post (id est, I chanced to look where the information rests ... and “rests” is le mot juste) I began composing Nostalgia Ain’t What It Used to Be on 18 April [2024.] I drew up about eight measures. When I resumed work a few days ago, I felt it was an unsatisfactory start, and I shelved those measures provisionally. I composed an entirely fresh start (for the winds’ entrance, anyway—I left the two-mm. double-bass startup intact.) Once I had the beginning I wanted, I found a way to fold in the shelved material. Don’t be afraid to erase, but know when to erase and when to set momentarily aside.

I wrote the piece to serve as a light encore to cap the November concert in King’s Chapel. My tentative lineup is:

Nostalgia Trips

Jazz for Nostalgic Squirrels, Op. 117a
Alan Westby: The Quiet Girl
Down Along the Canal to Minerva Road, Op. 149a
Pamela Marshall: title t/b/d
Nostalgia Ain’t What It Used to Be, Op. 191
On or about August the first I finished updating a spreadsheet I’d been populating with events and repertory, so the summary takeaway is: Beginning on 20 June 2007, there have been 28 performances of The k a rl h e nn i ng Ensemble to date. Or, really the launch of the title “Karl Henning Ensemble” was on 24 June 2009 at First Congo in Woburn, so I’ve “ret-conned” to include the 2007 concert at St Paul’s on Tremont Street. Most of the repertory has been Henningmusick, and in later times the music of fellow band member Pam Marshall.
Other composers whose work has been showcased by the group are:
Brian Chamberlain
Nicole Chamberlain
Josephine Fear
Mark Gresham
Giorgio Koukl
Avrohom Leichtling
David Leone
Charles Turner
Frank Warren

Photo from June 2019