Tchaikovsky's Swan Theme
Explore below how Tchaikovsky‘s brooding and mysterious "Swan Theme," which threads throughout the ballet, also threads throughout popular culture, from video games to movies, music videos, and even social media, reminding us of how alluring music creates deepens emotional experiences.
In a TikTok sound with over 21.3k posts and counting, Tchaikovsky’s “Swan Theme” plays behind short audio clips from films that depict emotional outbursts from fed up women—Hidden Figures (2016), Pearl (2022), and Mean Girls (2004), to name a few. Posts featuring the sound are often captioned “Female Rage." Here, the theme functions as a feminist motif of frustration, oppression, and cathartic release. Image courtesy: A24
In the 1988 video game Final Fantasy II, the theme is sampled in the electronic song leading up to the battle against the Lamia Queen. Mirroring the other samples, the theme functions as an audible build-up to a pivotal event. However, the rendering of the audio in this clip turns the “Swan Theme” into a dainty, whimsical tune that has an idleness not usually associated with Tchaikovsky. Image courtesy: Gaming Alexandria
In Universal Pictures’ horror films: Dracula (1931), The Mummy (1932), and Murders in the Rue Morgue (1932), "Swan Theme" is sampled. This usage of the theme invokes the more common association of elegant suspense. Image courtesy: FilmGrab
Tchaikovsky’s “Swan Theme” is sampled in many popular songs, the most notable being Beyonce’s “Sorry” (2016), Ciara’s “I Bet” (2015), and “Turn It Up” by Diamond D. ft. Snoop Dog and Case (2019). These songs share a common theme of empowerment, with the former two mentioning the betrayal of a former partner explicitly. These samples use the “Swan Theme” as a confident mantra in the face of adversity. Image courtesy: Lemonade album booklet
In the opening scene of To All the Boys I've Loved Before (2018), Lara Jean is living out her romantic fantasy in a tall grass field while part of the Swan Lake score (specifically from the Act II pas de deux) plays in the background. Although this usage is not specifically the Swan Theme piece, other excerpts from the score also resonate in popular culture for the same reasons. Image courtesy: Netflix