Meaning of Carol of the Bells & The Story Behind

The popular Christmas song Carol of the Bells has been covered by many famous artists from different genres, making it a favorite among classical music fans, pop music fans and heavy metal fans all over the world. But not all music lovers know about the Ukrainian origin of the famous composition.

Let’s try to correct this unfortunate omission, at least on the scale of the audience of the site Blimey.

The story behind of Shchedryk (Carol of the Bells)

Throughout its centuries-old the story, the Ukrainian people have been composing the so-called schedrovkas (Ukrainian “shedrivki”), which were traditionally performed at Christmas and New Year. Nowadays, it is customary to sing them on the Generous Evening, on the eve of the Old New Year.

They reflected pagan beliefs, mentioned biblical stories, and also described the conditions of life and common traditions. The guests, coming to the house for the holidays, sang generosity to the owner and members of his family, wishing wealth, harvest, health, happiness and good luck.

One of these Christmas songs is Shchedryk. It sings about a swallow promising its owners prosperity in the coming year. The mention of a bird that flies to warmer climes for the winter suggests that the shed appeared in pagan times, when the New Year was celebrated on the spring equinox.

This folk song fascinated the Ukrainian composer Mykola Leontovich, who devoted decades to work on the work. He presented the first edition of the choral adaptation of Shchedryk in 1901, and the fifth was completed almost twenty years later. In 1916, it was brilliantly performed by the Kyiv University Choir.

It was the adaptation of “Shchedryk” that made Leontovich a famous composer and opened his work to a wide audience.

Lyrics of Shchedryk

Shchedryk, Shchedryk, Shchedryvochka,
The swallow came,
I began to twitter,
Viklikati Lord:
“See, see, Lord,
Look at the koshara –
There the sheep were crouching
And the lambs were born.
In you the goods are all good,
You will be a mother to the world of pennies,
Want not a penny, then half,
You have a black-browed woman in you.
Shchedryk, Shchedryk, Shchedryvochka,
The swallow has arrived.

The story of Carol of the Bells song

In October 1921, the Ukrainian National Choir, directed by Oleksandr Koshyts, presented Shchedryk at Carnegie Hall, winning the hearts of the local audience.

Next, an American composer of Ukrainian origin, Peter Wilhousky, composed a new text in English, turning the traditional schedrovka into a Christmas song. The melody reminded him of the ringing of bells, which prompted the main idea and determined the choice of the title.

Thus was born the now well-known Carol of the Bells. It was first heard on the radio during the Great Depression, but Vilkhovsky registered the copyright only in 1936.

Since the forties, the song has often been recorded by different musicians. It is not possible to list them all within the framework of the article, because only Wikipedia has more than one hundred and fifty versions of the composition. Therefore, we will choose at our discretion.

Let’s start with a virtuoso performance of Carol of the Bells by The Piano Guys.

Currently, Carol of the Bells from Pentatonix is very popular.

But fans of heavy music are closer, of course, to Metallica’s version of Carol of the Bells.

Interesting Facts

Variants of the song Carol of the Bells with alternative lyrics are known: Ring, Christmas Bells by Minna Louise Hohman, as well as Come Dance and Sing and Hark to the Bells by unknown authors.
The composition is featured in several feature films. For many, the most memorable film use of the song remains the scene from the comedy Home Alone (although Harry Potter fans will disagree).