KYIV, UKRAINE: The catchy tune of “Carol of the Bells” may sound instantly familiar and evoke Christmas movies such as “Home Alone” but those humming along may have little inkling to the music’s origins.
Used in countless holiday films and even performed by The Muppets, Carol of the Bells, a staple in western pop culture, stemmed from an early bid for Ukrainian independence.
The melody is a Ukrainian song called “Shchedryk”, or New Year’s carol, written by composer Mykola Leontovych and first performed in Kyiv at Christmas 1916.
This Christmas Eve, Ukrainian Radio Choir will perform the piece at Kyiv’s Philharmonic at a sold-out concert that re-treads some of that musical history.
This comes as Ukraine celebrates Christmas on December 25 for the first time ever — in sync with the West — instead of on January 7 as in Russia.
The Kyiv concert on Sunday will recreate the first US concert performance of the Shchedryk, at a time when Ukraine was in a fragile state of independence after World War I.
The Ukrainian People’s Republic had declared independence from Russia in 1918, led by nationalist politician Symon Petlyura.
To bolster the republic’s standing, Petlyura decided to send the Ukrainian National Choir on a world tour.
“Petlyura wanted to persuade the Western entente to recognise Ukraine’s independence, and so he initiated this project of musical diplomacy,” said Tina Peresunko, who helped organise Sunday’s concert.
The cultural researcher has written a book about Shchedryk and its links to Ukraine’s struggle for independence.
The Ukrainian National Choir travelled to western Europe in 1919, then went to the United States, where Shchedryk had its national premiere at the Carnegie Hall in New York in October 1922.
Petlyura aimed “through song, through culture, through Ukraine’s thousand-year-old folklore… to show that we are a nation, we are not Russians,” Peresunko told AFP.
“The idea was through song to convey the right of Ukrainian people to independence.
Used in countless holiday films and even performed by The Muppets, Carol of the Bells, a staple in western pop culture, stemmed from an early bid for Ukrainian independence.
The melody is a Ukrainian song called “Shchedryk”, or New Year’s carol, written by composer Mykola Leontovych and first performed in Kyiv at Christmas 1916.
This Christmas Eve, Ukrainian Radio Choir will perform the piece at Kyiv’s Philharmonic at a sold-out concert that re-treads some of that musical history.
This comes as Ukraine celebrates Christmas on December 25 for the first time ever — in sync with the West — instead of on January 7 as in Russia.
The Kyiv concert on Sunday will recreate the first US concert performance of the Shchedryk, at a time when Ukraine was in a fragile state of independence after World War I.
The Ukrainian People’s Republic had declared independence from Russia in 1918, led by nationalist politician Symon Petlyura.
To bolster the republic’s standing, Petlyura decided to send the Ukrainian National Choir on a world tour.
“Petlyura wanted to persuade the Western entente to recognise Ukraine’s independence, and so he initiated this project of musical diplomacy,” said Tina Peresunko, who helped organise Sunday’s concert.
The cultural researcher has written a book about Shchedryk and its links to Ukraine’s struggle for independence.
The Ukrainian National Choir travelled to western Europe in 1919, then went to the United States, where Shchedryk had its national premiere at the Carnegie Hall in New York in October 1922.
Petlyura aimed “through song, through culture, through Ukraine’s thousand-year-old folklore… to show that we are a nation, we are not Russians,” Peresunko told AFP.
“The idea was through song to convey the right of Ukrainian people to independence.