Thanks to Jeff Dunn for his cogent presentation of the issue of nostalgia
in music and for the excerpts from the Paul Griffith piece in the NY Times.

The musical conveying of nostalgia is a prevalent one in most types of
music.  As Jeff pointed out, there are a host of musical devices used to
convey nostalgia, and it's a natural part of the human condition to think
in nostalgic terms particularly as we have more and more life experiences
to reflect on.  A work I've been listening to a great deal in recent
months, Schumann's Kinderszenen, is basically all about nostalgia.

I tend to agree with the Griffith comments in his newspaper article.
Although we can conjure up nostalgia on our own in addition to getting
messages from the outside about it, the fact remains that these are
transitory feelings since the past is gone.  However, these feelings
have great impact for a short period.  Every time I feel nostalgic, I
get a very warm feeling within which I never get from any other emotional
category.  It comes, then it goes, and that's the way it should be.  If it
stayed, I'd be living in the past and not operating in a functional manner.

Don Satz
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