May 7, 2010 -- A strange thing is happening today: Ballerinas are suddenly plie-ing across Google's homepage, and the top trending topic on Twitter is none other than Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky.

MONTAGNE: Those are the opening notes of Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky's ballet "The Nutcracker." Thousands of musicians and dancers all over America perform it during the holidays.

In February 1877, Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky claimed that he could compose only "weak and rotten little themelets." The next year he composed the brave and cheerful tunes of his Violin Concerto in D ...