“The sound of bells”, popular song in the Anglo-Saxon world, back home in Ukraine

Back to basics for “Schedryk”, better known as “Carol of the Bells”. This melody, linked to Christmas, is also a symbol of the struggle that Ukrainians have always waged for their independence.

The Christmas song, The sound of bells (Carol of the Bells) well known in the Anglo-Saxon world, was performed on Sunday December 24 at the Kiev Philharmonic for a reason most people are unaware of: it is originally a traditional Ukrainian song. The song, called Schedryk (literally “The Generous”) in Ukrainian, is a traditional Christmas carol known in its transcription by the composer Mykola Leontovytch at the beginning of the 20th century and performed for the first time in kyiv in 1916.

Its performance this year by the Ukrainian Radio Choir took place on the eve of Christmas, celebrated for the first time in synchrony with the Western world, i.e. on December 25 of the Gregorian calendar, as a sign of break with the Russian Orthodox Church. This kept the old Julian calendar for religious festivals, shifted by 13 days, which places December 25 and the celebration of Christmas on January 7 of the civil calendar.

(Dear friends! We wish everyone the triumph of true human values. May these days sound the light and inspiring melody of “Shchedryk”, composed by Ukrainian artist Mykola Leontovych, and may it bring together friends and family. Happy Christmas and Happy New Year)

Exported to defend the colors of Ukraine

The Kiev concert reproduced the first performance of the song at Carnegie Hall, New York, which occurred in October 1922 when Ukraine had declared its independence in 1918 in the aftermath of the October Revolution, and was already struggling, in vain, to defend it. The President of the Ukrainian People’s Republic, the nationalist Simon Petliura, sent the Ukrainian National Choir in 1919 on tour to Western Europe and then to the United States to defend the country’s colors.

“Petliura wanted to convince Westerners to recognize the independence of Ukraine, and he launched this musical diplomacy project,” explains Tina Peresunko, one of the organizers of Sunday’s concert. Schedrykwhich would therefore become Carol of the Bells, was part of the program. Ukraine was later incorporated into the Soviet Union in 1922.

Tragic fate

Composer Mykola Leontovych did not enjoy the success of his work: he was assassinated by a Soviet agent in 1921, according to the Ukrainian Ministry of Culture. In 1936, a Ukrainian American, Peter Wilhousky, took over the music and wrote the lyrics under the title Carol of the Bells.

Simon Petlioura, exiled in Paris, was assassinated there in 1926 by a Jewish anarchist, Samuel Schwartzbard, who blamed him for the anti-Jewish pogroms committed in Ukraine in 1919. Ukraine, which had become independent again since the explosion of the USSR in 1991, has been fighting again since the annexation of Crimea by Russia and the start of a conflict in the east of its territory in 2014, then a major invasion launched by the Russian army on February 24, 2022.