“Shchedryk” has been and continues to be played in Ukrainian homes and at the best concert venues. Shchedryk is the basis for the legendary song by composer Mykola Leontovych that conquered the whole world. It has become a symbol of the longstanding struggle of Ukrainians for independence from Russia. The year 2022 marks the 100th anniversary of the American premiere of “Shchedryk” and the 145th anniversary of the birth of the brilliant Ukrainian composer Mykola Leontovych.
History
This song has become a symbol of Christmas. It is performed by the most famous musicians around the world, it is featured in movies and commercials, and it is tapped out by NBA basketball players. This is Carol of the Bells, a carol that brings joy to all nations celebrating Christmas. However, few people in the world still know that the song has pre-Christian roots and originates from Ukraine. Its authentic name is “Shchedryk”. The music was written by a talented Ukrainian composer Mykola Leontovych, based on an ancient Ukrainian melody. Before it became a symbol of Christmas, the tune was a hit of Ukrainian diplomacy in Europe and even an instrument of the Ukrainian struggle for independence from Russia. In 1919, the song was first performed in Prague (Czech Republic), and in 1922 in New York (USA). It was only in 1936 that its English-language version, Carol of the Bells, was released.
“Carol of the Bells is a Ukrainian Christmas carol; music by M. Leontovych; words and arrangement by P. Vilhovsky.” This is how the score was published in New York in 1936 by the Carl Fisher music publishing house. The same is recorded in the numerous notes of the song Carol of the Bells, which are played every Christmas by its performers in all corners of the world. However, strangely enough, this piece of music has nothing to do with Christmas, is not a carol, and is not even associated with winter.
It is an ancient Ukrainian ritual song that was sung in the spring: in March, when the swallows returned home. It belongs to the genre of shchedrivkas, which are Ukrainian New Year’s songs that were sung in ancient Ukraine before the adoption of Christianity. Back then, our lands celebrated the New Year in March. That is why the original text, unlike the English version, refers to a swallow, not bells, and the real name of the song is “Shchedryk,” from the word “shchedryi,” which also means fruitful, life-giving. For centuries, it was a simple one-voiced melody with four notes.
Facts that cannot be ignored:
1) In 2003, “Shchedryk” was listed in the US National Sounds Register, making this piece part of the US cultural heritage and further enhancing the status of Shchedryk as one of the most famous musical works in the world;
2) Mykola Leontovych was murdered during Christmas 1921, at the peak of his creative career. He was shot, probably for political reasons, although the exact circumstances of his death remain uncertain;
3) In Ukraine, the song has become a symbol of the New Year and Christmas holidays, and is performed in both classical and modern arrangements at various musical events;
4) After 1936, Shchedryk gained a new lease on life and once again gained worldwide popularity. The song is performed by the most famous choirs in the United States and around the world, orchestral versions of the song appear, rock performances, jazz standards, electro, techno, disco, metal – today there are thousands of different arrangements. Among the famous performers are the Mormon Tabernacle Choir, the bands Pentatonix and Piano Guys, the New York Philharmonic Orchestra under Leonard Bernstein, American guitarist Al Di Meola, Spanish opera tenor Plácido Domingo, and many, many others.
5) In 2023, on January 5, Ukrainian cinemas released a film by Ukrainian director Olesia Morgunets-Isaenko based on the screenplay by Ksenia Zastavska, Shchedryk (world premiere on March 4, 2023). The film tells the story of three families of different nationalities: Ukrainians, Poles, and Jews, united by a common misfortune – the war – who live in the city of Stanislav (now Ivano-Frankivsk). After the repressive system of the USSR, they experience the punitive machine of the Third Reich, and then the Germans are replaced by the “sovok.” The film’s protagonist, Mrs. Sofia, a singing teacher, teaches her daughter Yaroslava to sing shchedryk and tells her with delight that her grandfather was friends with Leontovych, and that “Shchedryk” was once performed not only in Kyiv in a large hall, but also received a standing ovation in New York. Because little Yaroslava sang “Shchedryk” to her Polish neighbors, the Kalynowski family, the families became friends. The film vividly depicts how the Germans mocked people, but the NKVD did it many times more cruelly and did not spare anyone. With each occupation, Sofia took and hid the children of her neighbors. It was through “Shchedryk” that little Yasia learned about the cruelty of the USSR, and the carol became a symbol of faith and hope for something better, and even in the final scene, Yasia and the other girls sang “Shchedryk” together. We will not tell the whole story of the tragic story of these families, but if you have not watched the film yet, you should definitely watch it, because all conscious Ukrainians should watch it.
Today, the song by Ukrainian composer Mykola Leontovych continues to live on and inspire. Every year at Christmas, new arrangements of Carol of the Bells appear. However, there are still many performers in the world who know nothing about the Ukrainian composer, let alone the Ukrainian People’s Republic (UPR). The history of this era of Ukrainian statehood can hardly be found in foreign textbooks of world history, but it was these years that shaped the national consciousness and indomitable spirit of the entire nation of Ukrainians. Today, times are different, but the struggle continues and we are once again united around the Ukrainian cultural heritage.
Christmas / copyright / intellectual property / Shchedryk / Микола Леонтович
