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Carol of the Bells
music by r Mykola Leontovych lyrics by Peter J. Wilhousky
Hark! How the bells, sweet silver bells All seem to say, “Throw cares away” Christmas is here, bringing good cheer To young and old, meek and the bold Ding, dong, ding, dong, that is their song With joyful ring, all caroling One seems to hear, words of good cheer From everywhere, filling the air Oh, how they pound, raising the sound O’er hill and dale, telling their tale Gaily they ring, while people sing Songs of good cheer, Christmas is here Merry, merry, merry, merry Christmas Merry, merry, merry, merry Christmas On-on they send, on without end Their joyful tone to every home
Hark! How the bells, sweet silver bells All seem to say, “Throw cares away” Christmas is here, bringing good cheer To young and old, meek and the bold Ding, dong, ding, dong, that is their song With joyful ring, all caroling One seems to hear, words of good cheer From everywhere, filling the air Oh, how they pound, raising the sound O’er hill and dale, telling their tale Gaily they ring, while people sing Songs of good cheer, Christmas is here Merry, merry, merry, merry Christmas Merry, merry, merry, merry Christmas On-on they send, on without end Their joyful tone to every home
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Have you ever wondered what a “carol” is and why we call them carols?
c. 1300, “joyful song,” also a kind of dance in a ring, from Old French carole “kind of dance in a ring, round dance accompanied by singers,” a word of uncertain origin. Perhaps from Medieval Latin choraula “a dance to the flute,” from Latin choraules “flute-player,” from Greek khoraulēs “flute player who accompanies the choral dance,” from khoros “chorus” (see chorus) + aulein “to play the flute,” from aulos “reed instrument” (see alveolus). OED writes that “a Celtic origin is out of the question.” The meaning “Christmas hymn of joy” is attested from c. 1500.
Carol
masc. proper name, from Medieval Latin Carolus, which is of Germanic origin, from the common noun meaning “man, husband” (see carl). As a fem. proper name, an abbreviation of Caroline. The masc. name never has been popular in U.S.; the fem. form was common after c. 1900 and was a top-10 name for U.S. girls born 1936-1950.
carol(v.)
c. 1300, “to dance in a ring,” from Old French caroler, from carole (see carol (n.)). As “to sing with joy or festivity” from late 14c. As “go around from place to place in a group singing Christmas carols” it is from 1879, said to be a Victorian revival of an older English custom. Related: Caroled; caroling; caroler.
A joyful song, and one wherein you might hear flutes or dance in a circle. Perhaps Rockin’ Around the Christmas Tree is one of our few true carols. I’m not sure that most of our modern tunes really fit this definition.
And then there’s Carol of the Bells. This is one of the most tonally strange songs from the traditional American Christmas catalogue. There’s a somewhat frantic and ominous overtone that doesn’t mesh well with the rest of the season’s peaceful, relaxed, and nostalgic tunes. And yet it’s popular and well loved. So this made me wonder where it came from.
Would you be surprised to learn that this song originates in the far reaches of Eastern Europe? Perhaps. But then you’d think about it and it makes sense. I don’t want to say that a part of the world kind of has a vibe… but Eastern Europe might actually just have an intense vibe. I love it, but it’s there. Apparently I’m not alone. This song went on tour in the U.S. in the early 20th century and it was so well loved that it was given English lyrics.
“Carol of the Bells” is a popular Christmas carol, which is based on the Ukrainian New Year celebration song “Shchedryk“. The music for the carol comes from the song written and arranged by the Ukrainian composer Mykola Leontovych between 1901 or 1919. English-language lyrics were written in 1936 by the American composer of Ukrainian origin, Peter Wilhousky.
The music is based on a four-note ostinato and is in 3 4 time signature, with the B-flat bell pealing in 6 8 time. The carol is metrically bistable (which means it is characterized by hemiola), with a listener being able to focus on either meter or switch between them. It has been adapted for musical genres that include classical, heavy metal, jazz, country music, rock, trap, and pop. The music has been featured in films and television shows.
Background
Origins
Composer Mykola Leontovych
The conductor of the Ukrainian Republic Capella, Oleksander Koshyts, commissioned Ukrainian composer Leontovych to create the song based on traditional Ukrainian folk songs and chants, and the resulting new work for choir, “Shchedryk”, was based on four notes Leontovych found in the Ukrainian anthology.
The original Ukrainian folk story related to the song was associated with the coming New Year that, prior to the introduction of Christianity, likely was celebrated in Ukraine in February or March, with the arrival of swallows, or with the spring equinox, in association with coming of spring in April. The original Ukrainian title translates to “the generous one”, or is perhaps derived from the Ukrainian word for bountiful (shchedryj), and tells a tale of a swallow flying into a household to proclaim the bountiful year that the family will have.
After the introduction of Christianity to Ukraine and the adoption of the Julian calendar the celebration of the new year was moved from April to January. The holiday with which the chant was originally associated became Malanka (Ukrainian: Щедрий вечір, Shchedry vechir), the eve of the Julian new year (the night of 13-14 January in the Gregorian calendar). The songs sung for this celebration are known as Shchedrivky.
Leontovych wrote the tune for the song while he was living and working in Pokrovsk (Eastern Ukraine) between 1904 and 1908. It was first performed by the Ukrainian students at Kyiv University in December 1916. It was introduced to Western audiences by the Ukrainian National Chorus during its 1919 concert tour of Europe. The tour was organized as a way to generate support for the fledgling independent nation of Ukraine, which had declared its independence, but which the Bolshevik government in Moscow refused to recognize.
The song premiered in the United States on October 5, 1922, to a sold-out audience at Carnegie Hall and the American audience fell in love with the Ukrainian song. The original work was intended to be sung a cappella by mixed four-voice choir.
Two other settings of the composition were also created by Leontovych: one for the women’s choir (unaccompanied), and another for the children’s choir with piano accompaniment. These two are rarely performed or recorded.
English lyrics versions
In 1936, Wilhousky rearranged the melody for the orchestra with new lyrics for NBC radio network’s symphony orchestra, centred around the theme of bells because the melody reminded him of handbells, which begins “Hark! How the bells”. It was first aired during the Great Depression. Wilhousky secured copyright to the new lyrics and the published song, despite the song having been published almost two decades earlier in the Ukrainian National Republic. Broad popularity of the song stemmed largely from Wilhousky’s ability to reach a wide audience in his role as arranger for the NBC Symphony Orchestra. His adaptation is now strongly associated with Christmas because of his new lyrics that reference bells and caroling, and his line “merry, merry, merry, merry Christma
“Ring, Christmas Bells”, an English-language variant featuring nativity-based lyrics, was written by Minna Louise Hohman in 1947. Two other versions exist by anonymous writers: one from 1957 entitled “Come Dance and Sing” and one from 1972 that begins “Hark to the bells”.
American recordings by various artists began to surface on the radio in the 1940s. The song gained further popularity when an instrumental was featured in television advertisements for André champagne in the 1970s. “Carol of the Bells” has been recorded in more than 150 versions and re-arrangements for varying vocal and instrumental compositions.
The Muppets‘ 2009 parody of the song, climaxing with a large bell (set up by Animal) falling on the increasingly frenetic Beaker, quickly became a viral video that Christmas season.
‡ Sales+streaming figures based on certification alone. † Streaming-only figures based on certification alone.
This song brings a couple of different versions to mind, for me. The first is the John Williams version, but particularly as it relates to the movie Home Alone. The urgent ominous tone fits the film’s “gearing up for war” story perfectly.
The other version of this song that I am familiar with – and also one I deeply enjoy – comes from Manheim Steamroller.
Do you have a favorite Christmas song? Or a favorite version of this one?
