Pardon what I know is an embarrassing question - I am at the very basics of learning music theory.
If a scale such as C Major is an exact pattern of intervals, how can multiple songs be composed with it and still sound original? A quote from the Wikipedia article on it:
Twenty of Joseph Haydn's 104 symphonies are in C Major, making it his second most often used key, second only to D major.
Does that simply mean he steals parts of it using C Major, or he literally plays multiple instruments or octaves with the exact same melody? What are some tangible examples of two songs playing C Major and sounding different?
I feel like there is something very basic I am missing on the use of scales.
edit
That "very basic" is was missing is that scales don't have to be in the given particular sequence, which is obvious now that I look at it and opens up my understanding to them.
I've read over 10 articles and tutorials on scales before posting this, and surprisingly, they all start out saying "this is a scale" but never why and what they do for you, which was very frustrating. I am all alone in learning all of this so don't have someone I can just ask these questions as they come up.
It's a little disparaging that SO is the only place I know I can get reliable answers, in, however I can't ask a question I honestly don't know without downvotes.