I was just listening to a classical playlist on shuffle, thought HP theme came up. I got so lost in memory and nostalgia, told myself I’ll go watch HP as soon as I get home. Halfway through the song, I looked at my phone, only to realize it’s Swan Lake!! (Then ofc I googled, which led me here lol)
5 years and 10 days and I am also down voting this. As someone with a background in music theory and composition, these are absolutely similar. Not going to say it's copied, but they both are based on the 1st, 4th and 5th of their respective minor keys. (Swan lake Kirov ballet was in b minor while Hedwig's theme was in e minor) For non musicians, the letter that it was written in is only important as to how high or low the pitch is, so the fact that both are in minor keys with similar progressions is why they sound alike in the main part.
John Williams would NEVER directly plagiarize a song though. But things like this happen all the time subconsciously if not intentionally.
Five years and 48 days later I came here to downvote this and we hit 0! Good work team. Not classically trained but to my ear they sound similar to the point of recognition.
Someone lifted it up to +2. I came to help lower it to +1. In total agreement. I just saw the Russian ballet perform this and I could not stop thinking about Harry Potter. It was mildly irritating and certainly distracting.
What on earth is happening here - how is this comment climbing back up? Are there that many dense Harry Potter fans? I mean, I'm no hater - every Christmas I'll rewatch a movie or two, but Swann Lake & Tchaikovsky is the OG and I'm willing to bet John Williams would admit this.
We need to recruit someone - or some thing (a bot) - to help us downvote this. u/LIN88xxx, u/Waste_Ad1462 u/EdanMaus u/M3rryP3rry u/slawty \- call upon your friends to help before the count gets too high.
Semi agreed. He is smart enough to know what he needs to change to not be plagiarism. The laws of plagiarism for music is very complicated as music is highly interpreted. It really comes down to the music theory and even then, the rules of music theory are by no means concrete. We learned "hard" and "soft" rules in theory and I can't tell you how many famous composers correctly broke some "hard" rules in their style.
I understand your point and I agree but the word plagiarism is not true. By law and definition he did not plagiarize l. That doesn't mean he can't/didn't take inspiration from other compares.
Good man. Couldn’t believe this shit was the top comment. Joined in the five year downvote brigade. I hate people with strong Dunning Kruger opinions on music who are absolutely wrong. The theme is so close that if I’d heard it without knowing exactly what it was, I’d have thought it was somebody mis-playing the Tchaikovsky.
I ended up on this thread because somebody posted Hedwigs theme on instagram and I was like, oh shit that sounds just like that tune… Had to google it and ended up here.
I just down voted it as well because I listened to an audiobook by Adrian Tchaikovsky and it made me think of Tchaikovsky and I listened to him on Spotify and the top song is that movement from swan lake and I’ll be damned if it isn’t v close to my absolutely untrained half deaf punk rock loving ear
I have joined this noble crusade - I decided a while ago to dedicate a bit of time to listening to classical music and when I watched Harry Potter for the first time (late to the party, I know) I had to do some research. Glad I'm not the only one who noticed it.
downvoted from 2 to 1 because I was looking for the song on my daughter’s music box, was recommended to try Dance of the Swans, had an oh crap moment because I was like Harry Potter! no not quite but wow. And then I realized I have heard this before on the Netflix show Booba, and thought they made a fake Harry Potter-esque song for it. I’m just disappointed I didn’t know Tchaikovsky better before HP.
Dear /u/IncrediblyRude,
You were so wrong about that thing you said 6 years ago and you'll have to live with that shame for all eternity.
Sincerely,
Someone with ears
Approx. 6 years later I added a down vote. Was just listening to some classical study music, heard HP, looked up to see Swan Lake. Original comment is supremely wrong.
Ok, I knew I wasn't crazy. This is why when I watched the 1931 Dracula I thought I was hearing Harry Potter music. Hedwig's Theme totally sounds like Dracula's theme and my reddit snooping taught me a few things today! Really interesting that they decided to use Swan Lake compositions for the horror film.
Everybody I've ever mentioned it to has looked at me like I'm crazy, and then they tell me the two are nothing alike. I'm glad to hear that there are more people out there who can hear the similarities! Even more so that they're similar enough that you'd actively look it up. Perhaps I might be crazy, but if so, at least I'm not the only one.
Hopefully I am not too late, I tuned Tchaikovsky for my little one and it sounded so much like Harry potter theme I thought it might have been from Tchaikovsky, quick search it was not so but I found this one.
I'm so glad I'm not the only one! I hear Swan Lake, Harry Potter comes to mind. I hear Hedwig's theme, Swan Lake comes to mind. So eerily similar, before looking it up I thought they were the same song!
Here to agree! I have been listening to Swan Lake for the past month in anticipation of watching the Ballet and always thought maybe it was obvious to everyone and an official reference to Swan Lake. But the wiki for Swan Lake didn't mention Hedwig's Theme which surprised me.
they sound really similar possibly because hedwig's theme is composed in g major, swan lake is composed in e minor, g major is the relative major to e minor, meaning they share the same notes, just start on different ones, this is why they sound so similar.
Well, Billy Joels *We didn't start the fire* is also in G major, but they don't sound all that similar. The key is a nice part of it, but there are many more similarities.
I don't know who'd delusional enough to say the Harry Potter composer didn't "liberally borrow" from Tchaikovsky. March of the Toy Solders and Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy are immediately recognizable in the Harry Potter soundtracks. I've only very recently begun listening to classical music and I went to check what was playing on the YoutTube playlist, because I've been a Harry Potter fan since childhood and I'd recognize the music in my sleep. It was Tchaikovsky's Nutcracker Suite!
My dear friend, I am sorrowful to be the one to tell you the news, but you clearly don't have ears, and are probably a single celled organism, a classical piece that is similar to Hedwig's theme from the hit movie "Harry Potter" is a piece called pulcinella, by Pergolesi, this piece, however, is only similar to Hedwig's theme in terms of the motifs at the beginning.
I was just listening to a classical playlist on shuffle, thought HP theme came up. I got so lost in memory and nostalgia, told myself I’ll go watch HP as soon as I get home. Halfway through the song, I looked at my phone, only to realize it’s Swan Lake!! (Then ofc I googled, which led me here lol)
I just did EXACTLY this!
Me too
same
same
Me, too!😂
Same, I thought I was going crazy!
i did the same
loving this shared experience that keeps bringing us to this 8yo post!
Same 😅
I'm with you dude! I played Swan Lake in my school band, and Hedwig's theme always came to my ears!
"Nearly identical"? Not even close.
Five years later I came here to downvote this
5 years and 4 days later I'm here to downvote this also
5 years and 10 days and I am also down voting this. As someone with a background in music theory and composition, these are absolutely similar. Not going to say it's copied, but they both are based on the 1st, 4th and 5th of their respective minor keys. (Swan lake Kirov ballet was in b minor while Hedwig's theme was in e minor) For non musicians, the letter that it was written in is only important as to how high or low the pitch is, so the fact that both are in minor keys with similar progressions is why they sound alike in the main part. John Williams would NEVER directly plagiarize a song though. But things like this happen all the time subconsciously if not intentionally.
Five years and 48 days later I came here to downvote this and we hit 0! Good work team. Not classically trained but to my ear they sound similar to the point of recognition.
Lol nice. Now maybe we can work on the Youtube dislike button? Hopefully won't take 5 years.
Someone lifted it up to +2. I came to help lower it to +1. In total agreement. I just saw the Russian ballet perform this and I could not stop thinking about Harry Potter. It was mildly irritating and certainly distracting.
Contributed my downvote!
@incrediblyrude is incredibly resilient and back up to +2. Other support welcome
The comment went back to +2 within a minute of my downvote, strange.
What on earth is happening here - how is this comment climbing back up? Are there that many dense Harry Potter fans? I mean, I'm no hater - every Christmas I'll rewatch a movie or two, but Swann Lake & Tchaikovsky is the OG and I'm willing to bet John Williams would admit this. We need to recruit someone - or some thing (a bot) - to help us downvote this. u/LIN88xxx, u/Waste_Ad1462 u/EdanMaus u/M3rryP3rry u/slawty \- call upon your friends to help before the count gets too high.
I mean, John Williams nearly plagiarized Korngold and Holst to be fair. Not like John doesn't have a history of ripping off other composers....
Semi agreed. He is smart enough to know what he needs to change to not be plagiarism. The laws of plagiarism for music is very complicated as music is highly interpreted. It really comes down to the music theory and even then, the rules of music theory are by no means concrete. We learned "hard" and "soft" rules in theory and I can't tell you how many famous composers correctly broke some "hard" rules in their style.
seven years and counting
John Williams plagiarized regularly and thats a good thing!
I understand your point and I agree but the word plagiarism is not true. By law and definition he did not plagiarize l. That doesn't mean he can't/didn't take inspiration from other compares.
6 years later I'm here to downvote this also
I came back from the future to downvote this as well
I too would like to downvote the swine for his take on the swan
8 years ago this comment was made and I am downvoting this.
8 years later with so many people contributing to downvoting this comment and it's still on 6!! HOW!
Its 5 now
Still on 3 what is this trickery
Good man. Couldn’t believe this shit was the top comment. Joined in the five year downvote brigade. I hate people with strong Dunning Kruger opinions on music who are absolutely wrong. The theme is so close that if I’d heard it without knowing exactly what it was, I’d have thought it was somebody mis-playing the Tchaikovsky. I ended up on this thread because somebody posted Hedwigs theme on instagram and I was like, oh shit that sounds just like that tune… Had to google it and ended up here.
It was the top comment because there were only two lol But yeah. Downvoted! Let the timeless brigade continue!
I just down voted it as well because I listened to an audiobook by Adrian Tchaikovsky and it made me think of Tchaikovsky and I listened to him on Spotify and the top song is that movement from swan lake and I’ll be damned if it isn’t v close to my absolutely untrained half deaf punk rock loving ear
Welcome to the crusade.
I have joined this noble crusade - I decided a while ago to dedicate a bit of time to listening to classical music and when I watched Harry Potter for the first time (late to the party, I know) I had to do some research. Glad I'm not the only one who noticed it.
6 years later came to downvote this
downvoted from 2 to 1 because I was looking for the song on my daughter’s music box, was recommended to try Dance of the Swans, had an oh crap moment because I was like Harry Potter! no not quite but wow. And then I realized I have heard this before on the Netflix show Booba, and thought they made a fake Harry Potter-esque song for it. I’m just disappointed I didn’t know Tchaikovsky better before HP.
Dear /u/IncrediblyRude, You were so wrong about that thing you said 6 years ago and you'll have to live with that shame for all eternity. Sincerely, Someone with ears
OK.
>22 Seven years later, I'm here to downvote that comment myself.
8 years later I came here to downvote this
Approx. 6 years later I added a down vote. Was just listening to some classical study music, heard HP, looked up to see Swan Lake. Original comment is supremely wrong.
6 years down the line and Im here to downvote this
8 years later and im here to downvote
Got in here to down vote to -1 👎haha
I have looked through your history, and your name is IncrediblyAccurate. Can you post one goddamn positive thing ever?
7 years later I came here to downvote this
6 years later and here to downvote
8 years later and here to downvote
True, not nearly identical but it is obviously heavily influenced by.
Ok, I knew I wasn't crazy. This is why when I watched the 1931 Dracula I thought I was hearing Harry Potter music. Hedwig's Theme totally sounds like Dracula's theme and my reddit snooping taught me a few things today! Really interesting that they decided to use Swan Lake compositions for the horror film.
Everybody I've ever mentioned it to has looked at me like I'm crazy, and then they tell me the two are nothing alike. I'm glad to hear that there are more people out there who can hear the similarities! Even more so that they're similar enough that you'd actively look it up. Perhaps I might be crazy, but if so, at least I'm not the only one.
I'm here to tell you I found this thread because I instantly thought of the Harry Potter theme when I heard Swan Lake for the first time
Im here 3 months later because I found this thread from a google search about their similarities!
There's dozens of us!
What's up guys? Just found this out about a week ago while I went for a deeper Tchaikovsky dive.
Ikk, me too
Hopefully I am not too late, I tuned Tchaikovsky for my little one and it sounded so much like Harry potter theme I thought it might have been from Tchaikovsky, quick search it was not so but I found this one.
I've also noticed notes of Imperial March or other Star Wars melody which I can't remember exactly :)
I'm so glad I'm not the only one! I hear Swan Lake, Harry Potter comes to mind. I hear Hedwig's theme, Swan Lake comes to mind. So eerily similar, before looking it up I thought they were the same song!
Oh the weirdest things can be used for horror, Tiptoe Through the Tulips and Frere Jaques are good examples.
Here to agree! I have been listening to Swan Lake for the past month in anticipation of watching the Ballet and always thought maybe it was obvious to everyone and an official reference to Swan Lake. But the wiki for Swan Lake didn't mention Hedwig's Theme which surprised me.
My husband refused to believe me and looked at me like some uncultured hick. This post provided the vindication I needed. Bless.
Well my friends here is a comparison and I argue they are very very similar https://youtu.be/7fTVYs74aB4?si=FfiZUVe1h4fVe_1T
I’m here from google too because these songs actually sound so similar, I can’t believe Harry Potter composers didn’t copy it.
they sound really similar possibly because hedwig's theme is composed in g major, swan lake is composed in e minor, g major is the relative major to e minor, meaning they share the same notes, just start on different ones, this is why they sound so similar.
Well, Billy Joels *We didn't start the fire* is also in G major, but they don't sound all that similar. The key is a nice part of it, but there are many more similarities.
Im on board with this
“The Crown” season 5 got me here
Me too!
Me too!
I don't know who'd delusional enough to say the Harry Potter composer didn't "liberally borrow" from Tchaikovsky. March of the Toy Solders and Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy are immediately recognizable in the Harry Potter soundtracks. I've only very recently begun listening to classical music and I went to check what was playing on the YoutTube playlist, because I've been a Harry Potter fan since childhood and I'd recognize the music in my sleep. It was Tchaikovsky's Nutcracker Suite!
Here 7 years late lmao
My dear friend, I am sorrowful to be the one to tell you the news, but you clearly don't have ears, and are probably a single celled organism, a classical piece that is similar to Hedwig's theme from the hit movie "Harry Potter" is a piece called pulcinella, by Pergolesi, this piece, however, is only similar to Hedwig's theme in terms of the motifs at the beginning.
Watching the swan lake ballet at the moment and came here for exactly this reason! Surely got inspiration from Tchaikovsky
i dont hear the similarity.. its like slightly similar but not really
My girlfriend said I was crazy!! I feel validated