Tchaikovsky, always there.

Recently, I rediscovered this piece from my childhood.  It was like meeting an old, distant friend with a forgotten name, someone who always made you smile, even if you had never been exactly close.

I guess I must have a lot of Tchaikovsky's melodies hiding in my head somewhere, he being one of the first composers I learned about and remaining my all-time favorite.  Is he too sentimental?  Does his music go 'straight to your heart' (as a violin teacher once told me, somewhat reluctantly)?  But I think it is endearing, and enduring.  Tchaikovsky was a great author, an emotive writer, of music.