[jamesmayhew]

Take a look first at 18:15 (4th mov) from the Haydn string quartet (Op. 76 No. 6) then listen to 52:21 (the middle section) of Field's nocturne in D minor.

Seems like a bit of copycatting.

 

[jamesmayhew]

"Am I the first to notice this crazy similarity between a piece of Haydn and one of John Field's nocturnes?"

[italics mine]
No. I suspect John Field was the first to notice this.
You may, though, be the second....

😂 Although if Field deliberately used the theme, I'm not sure the meaning of 'notice' is wholly applicable in his case - as far as my understanding takes me, I thought noticing is observing/realising something not at first noticed, so as long as Field knew he was using Haydn's tune in the first place then perhaps it wasn't possible for him to notice it.
🤷‍♂️
I know it's a bit of a cheesy title to the thread - wasn't trying to come across as arrogant

 

[jamesmayhew]

I wouldn't say it's a case of plagiarism since composers borrowed from one another all the time.

I'm not saying there's anything wrong with it, it just seems such a striking similarity and as far as I know hasn't been picked up on beforehand

 

[jamesmayhew]

Who knows why he used the Haydn theme (I think it's pretty clear that the chances of Field coming up with such a similar passage originally are very slim); perhaps it was an intentional Haydn homage, or he was stuck for an idea and used that, or it could have been a subconscious influence from studying the work earlier in his life.

 

[jamesmayhew]

What do you think about—

measure 18 in the slow movement of Mozart string quartet K.428: youtube.com/watch?v=bkNWCx-2AbU&t=14m38s

transpose it up a semitone to A major, it looks like this:

D -------------------------
---G#---A ---A#--- B --- C#
---B --- A ---G#-------
--------- F ---E ----------------

a passage from Wagner Tristan und Isolde Prelude:
youtube.com/watch?v=-QX7dgBqfgw&t=6m18s

D--------------------------
---G#---A ---A# --- B --- C#
B-------------
F--------------E--G#-B---- E


the ways to reach climax (before falling with arpeggios to the reprise of the initial material) in both Wagner and Mozart (sonata K.533), with a 7th chord built on F. The Wagner climaxes with a half-diminished 7th. The Mozart with a dominant 7th.
youtube.com/watch?v=fRu5f7BzdR4&t=5m5s ( 5:05 ~ 5:35 )
youtube.com/watch?v=-QX7dgBqfgw&t=7m ( 7:00 ~ 7:30 )

youtube.com/watch?v=I0CzPGo9ZFg&t=5m22s

Interesting!