Shchedryk
Encyclopedia
Shchedryk is a Ukrainian
shchedrivka, or New Year's carol
. It was arranged by composer
and teacher Mykola Leontovych
in 1916, and tells a story of a swallow flying into a household
to sing of wealth
that will come with the following spring
. Shchedryk was originally sung on the night of January 13 (Old Style), which is Shchedry Vechir to Ukrainians, New Year's Eve by the Julian Calendar
. Early performances of the piece were made by students at Kiev University
.
Shchedryk was later adapted as an English Christmas carol
, Carol of the Bells
, by Peter J. Wilhousky following a performance of the original song by Alexander Koshetz's Ukrainian National Chorus at Carnegie Hall
on October 5, 1921. Wilhousky copyright
ed and published his new lyrics
(which were not based on the Ukrainian lyrics) in 1936, and the song became popular in the United States
, where it became strongly associated with Christmas
.
in the rhythm (alternating the accents within each measure from 3/4 to 6/8 and back again). The chant based on an ostinato
4 note pattern within the range of a minor third is thought to be of prehistoric origins and was associated with the coming New Year which in Ukraine
before the introduction of Christianity
was originally celebrated in April.
With the introduction of Christianity
to Ukraine
, the celebration of the New Year was moved from April to January and the holiday the chant describes became associated with the Feast of Epiphany also known in Ukrainian as Shchedry vechir. The songs sung for this celebration are known as Schedrivky.
The original Ukrainian text tells the tale of a swallow flying into a household to proclaim the plentiful and bountiful year that the family will have." The title is derived from the Ukrainian word for "bountiful."
In Ukraine, the carol is currently sung on the eve of the Julian New Year (January 13th).
The 4 note melody over a minor 3rd of the chant was used by Ukrainian composer Mykola Leontovych
as an ostinato theme in a number of arrangements he made. The arrangement for mixed voice choir a cappella
was popularized by the Ukrainian Republic Capella
directed by Oleksander Koshetz
when it toured the West after 1920.
The first of the English language lyrics below were written in 1936 by Peter Wilhousky of NBC
Radio. The song reminded Wilhousky of beautiful ringing bells and he captured that imagery in his lyrics.
Ukraine
Ukraine is a country in Eastern Europe. It has an area of 603,628 km², making it the second largest contiguous country on the European continent, after Russia...
shchedrivka, or New Year's carol
Carol (music)
A carol is a festive song, generally religious but not necessarily connected with church worship, and often with a dance-like or popular character....
. It was arranged by composer
Composer
A composer is a person who creates music, either by musical notation or oral tradition, for interpretation and performance, or through direct manipulation of sonic material through electronic media...
and teacher Mykola Leontovych
Mykola Leontovych
Mykola Dmytrovych Leontovych was a Ukrainian composer, choral conductor, priest, and teacher of international renown. His music was inspired by Mykola Lysenko and the Ukrainian nationalist music school, along with Kyrylo Stetsenko, Alexander Koshetz, and Yakiv Stepovy...
in 1916, and tells a story of a swallow flying into a household
Household
The household is "the basic residential unit in which economic production, consumption, inheritance, child rearing, and shelter are organized and carried out"; [the household] "may or may not be synonymous with family"....
to sing of wealth
Wealth
Wealth is the abundance of valuable resources or material possessions. The word wealth is derived from the old English wela, which is from an Indo-European word stem...
that will come with the following spring
Spring (season)
Spring is one of the four temperate seasons, the transition period between winter and summer. Spring and "springtime" refer to the season, and broadly to ideas of rebirth, renewal and regrowth. The specific definition of the exact timing of "spring" varies according to local climate, cultures and...
. Shchedryk was originally sung on the night of January 13 (Old Style), which is Shchedry Vechir to Ukrainians, New Year's Eve by the Julian Calendar
Julian calendar
The Julian calendar began in 45 BC as a reform of the Roman calendar by Julius Caesar. It was chosen after consultation with the astronomer Sosigenes of Alexandria and was probably designed to approximate the tropical year .The Julian calendar has a regular year of 365 days divided into 12 months...
. Early performances of the piece were made by students at Kiev University
Kiev University
Taras Shevchenko University or officially the Taras Shevchenko National University of Kyiv , colloquially known in Ukrainian as KNU is located in Kiev, the capital of Ukraine. It is the third oldest university in Ukraine after the University of Lviv and Kharkiv University. Currently, its structure...
.
Shchedryk was later adapted as an English Christmas carol
Christmas carol
A Christmas carol is a carol whose lyrics are on the theme of Christmas or the winter season in general and which are traditionally sung in the period before Christmas.-History:...
, Carol of the Bells
Carol of the Bells
"Carol of the Bells" is the common English language title of a Christmas carol of Ukrainian origin, which has in recent years grown in popularity, particularly in English-speaking countries. The work was originally a choral miniature composition by the Ukrainian composer Mykola Leontovych based on...
, by Peter J. Wilhousky following a performance of the original song by Alexander Koshetz's Ukrainian National Chorus at Carnegie Hall
Carnegie Hall
Carnegie Hall is a concert venue in Midtown Manhattan in New York City, United States, located at 881 Seventh Avenue, occupying the east stretch of Seventh Avenue between West 56th Street and West 57th Street, two blocks south of Central Park....
on October 5, 1921. Wilhousky copyright
Copyright
Copyright is a legal concept, enacted by most governments, giving the creator of an original work exclusive rights to it, usually for a limited time...
ed and published his new lyrics
Lyrics
Lyrics are a set of words that make up a song. The writer of lyrics is a lyricist or lyrist. The meaning of lyrics can either be explicit or implicit. Some lyrics are abstract, almost unintelligible, and, in such cases, their explication emphasizes form, articulation, meter, and symmetry of...
(which were not based on the Ukrainian lyrics) in 1936, and the song became popular in the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
, where it became strongly associated with Christmas
Christmas
Christmas or Christmas Day is an annual holiday generally celebrated on December 25 by billions of people around the world. It is a Christian feast that commemorates the birth of Jesus Christ, liturgically closing the Advent season and initiating the season of Christmastide, which lasts twelve days...
.
Origins and translation
The song is based on a traditional folk chant whose language was thought to have magical properties. The original traditional Ukrainian text used a device known as hemiolaHemiola
In modern musical parlance, a hemiola is a metrical pattern in which two bars in simple triple time are articulated as if they were three bars in simple duple time...
in the rhythm (alternating the accents within each measure from 3/4 to 6/8 and back again). The chant based on an ostinato
Ostinato
In music, an ostinato is a motif or phrase, which is persistently repeated in the same musical voice. An ostinato is always a succession of equal sounds, wherein each note always has the same weight or stress. The repeating idea may be a rhythmic pattern, part of a tune, or a complete melody in...
4 note pattern within the range of a minor third is thought to be of prehistoric origins and was associated with the coming New Year which in Ukraine
Ukraine
Ukraine is a country in Eastern Europe. It has an area of 603,628 km², making it the second largest contiguous country on the European continent, after Russia...
before the introduction of Christianity
Christianity
Christianity is a monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus as presented in canonical gospels and other New Testament writings...
was originally celebrated in April.
With the introduction of Christianity
Christianity
Christianity is a monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus as presented in canonical gospels and other New Testament writings...
to Ukraine
Ukraine
Ukraine is a country in Eastern Europe. It has an area of 603,628 km², making it the second largest contiguous country on the European continent, after Russia...
, the celebration of the New Year was moved from April to January and the holiday the chant describes became associated with the Feast of Epiphany also known in Ukrainian as Shchedry vechir. The songs sung for this celebration are known as Schedrivky.
The original Ukrainian text tells the tale of a swallow flying into a household to proclaim the plentiful and bountiful year that the family will have." The title is derived from the Ukrainian word for "bountiful."
In Ukraine, the carol is currently sung on the eve of the Julian New Year (January 13th).
The 4 note melody over a minor 3rd of the chant was used by Ukrainian composer Mykola Leontovych
Mykola Leontovych
Mykola Dmytrovych Leontovych was a Ukrainian composer, choral conductor, priest, and teacher of international renown. His music was inspired by Mykola Lysenko and the Ukrainian nationalist music school, along with Kyrylo Stetsenko, Alexander Koshetz, and Yakiv Stepovy...
as an ostinato theme in a number of arrangements he made. The arrangement for mixed voice choir a cappella
A cappella
A cappella music is specifically solo or group singing without instrumental sound, or a piece intended to be performed in this way. It is the opposite of cantata, which is accompanied singing. A cappella was originally intended to differentiate between Renaissance polyphony and Baroque concertato...
was popularized by the Ukrainian Republic Capella
Ukrainian Republic Capella
The Ukrainian Republic Capella was a musical company during and after World War I which toured Europe and North America with the intent to promote Ukrainian culture abroad. The main sponsor of the Capella was Symon Petlura.-Background:During World War I, many events shook Eastern Europe...
directed by Oleksander Koshetz
Oleksander Koshetz
Oleksander Koshetz was a Ukrainian choral conductor, arranger, composer, ethnographer, writer, musicologist, and lecturer. He helped popularize Ukrainian music around the world...
when it toured the West after 1920.
The first of the English language lyrics below were written in 1936 by Peter Wilhousky of NBC
NBC
The National Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network and former radio network headquartered in the GE Building in New York City's Rockefeller Center with additional major offices near Los Angeles and in Chicago...
Radio. The song reminded Wilhousky of beautiful ringing bells and he captured that imagery in his lyrics.
Comparison of Lyrics
Although Carol of the Bells and Shchedryk share the same melody, the lyrics of these two songs have nothing in common. Compare the lyrics of Shchedryk with the lyrics of Carol of the Bells (both below):| Ukrainian lyrics to Shchedryk | Transliteration (BGN/PCGN Romanization of Ukrainian The romanization or Latinization of Ukrainian is the representation of the Ukrainian language using Latin letters. Ukrainian is natively written in its own Ukrainian alphabet, a variation of Cyrillic.... ) |
English translation |
|---|---|---|
Щедрик щедрик, щедрiвочка, прилeтiла ластiвочка, стала собi щебетати, господаря викликати: "Вийди, вийди, господарю, подивися на кошару, там овечки покотились, а ягнички народились. В тебе товар весь хороший, будеш мати мiрку грошей, В тебе товар весь хороший, будеш мати мiрку грошей, хоч не грошей, то полова: в тебе жiнка чорноброва." Щедрик щедрик, щедрiвочка, прилeтiла ластiвочка. |
Shchedryk shchedryk, shchedrivochka, pryletila lastivochka, stala sobi shchebetaty, hospodarya vyklykaty: "Vyydy, vyydy, hospodaryu, podyvysya na kosharu, tam ovechky pokotylys’, a yahnychky narodylys’. V tebe tovar ves’ khoroshyy, budesh’ maty mirku hroshey, V tebe tovar ves’ khoroshyy, budesh’ maty mirku hroshey, khoch ne hroshey, to polova: v tebe zhinka chornobrova." Shchedryk shchedryk, shchedrivochka, pryletila lastivochka. |
Shchedryk, shchedryk, a shchedrivka [New Year's carol]; A little swallow flew [into the household] and started to twitter, to summon the master: "Come out, come out, O master [of the household], look at the sheep pen, there the ewes are nestling and the lambkin have been born Your goods [livestock] are great, you will have a lot of money, [by selling them] if not money, then chaff: [from all the grain you will harvest] you have a dark-eyebrowed [beautiful] wife." Shchedryk, shchedryk, a shchedrivka, A little swallow flew. |