How a Ukrainian Folk Song Welcoming Spring Became the Beloved Christmas Song ‘Carol of the Bells’
12Tone, the fast-talking,quick-doodling music theorist, explained how the classic Ukrainian folk song Shchedryk", which celebrated the rites of Spring, originated in folklore and became a song of identity and protest during the 1917 October Revolution and then was transformed to the beloved Christmas song Carol of the Bells", when it came to the United States.
The song that we now know as the Carolof the Bells began its life in Ukraineas a song called Shchedryk, by thecomposer Mykola Leontovych.Or, actually, it began its life a little earlierthan that. Leontovych had been hired to arrange apiece of music based on the centuries-oldUkrainian folk tradition of Shchedrivky,which were well-wishing songs sung by children to celebrate the new year. which might sounda little christmas-y, but an important thing tounderstand here is that, in pre-Christian Ukraine,the new year was celebrated not in winter,but at the start of spring.
He explains that the traditional folk chant was arranged by Ukrainian composer and priest Mykola Leontovych in 1901. Leontovych's version became very popular, becoming a song of cultural heritage, particularly during the Russian Revolution and the formation of a new state. Ukrainians were proud to share their music around the world, with Shchedryk" as its center.
Leontovych's folk-inspired lyrics were the norm,and while they were by no means a political song,the historical circumstances of the time madetheir political implications inescapable. Shchedryk premiered in 1916, and became popular in Ukraine during the early years of the Russian Revolution. As you might imagine, this made the concept of Ukrainian culturalidentity...complicated. For much of the 19th century, Ukrainians had been subjected to harshrestrictions on the expression of their culture,in an effort by Russian rulers to assimilatethem into Russian cultural norms.
The story goes that Peter Wilhousky, a Ukrainian-American heard the song performed in Carnegie Hall and wrote the new lyrics, turning it into Carol of the Bells".
The UkrainianNational Chorus, after touring in Europe, they came to America, and their first stopwas Carnegie Hall. it was a sold-out show,and somewhere in the crowd that night may have been the Ukrainian-American composerPeter Wilhousky. ... he ...fell in love with Shchedryk, and as an arranger for the NBC Symphony Orchestra,he had a great opportunity to help bring this songto a wider American audience. Instead ofdirectly translating the Ukrainian lyrics,though, he decided to write new ones that moredirectly celebrated the Christmas season.