"Carol of the Bells" is a popular Christmas carol, which is based on the Ukrainian New Years celebration song "Shchedryk". The music for the carol comes from the song written and arranged by the Ukrainian composer Mykola Leontovych between 1901 and 1916. English-language lyrics were written in 1936 by the American composer Peter Wilhousky.

The music is based on a four-note ostinato and is in time signature, with the B-flat bell pealing in time. The carol is metrically bistable (which means it is characterized by hemiola, or two different alternating meters), 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

thumb|upright|[[Mykola Leontovych]]

The conductor of the Ukrainian Republic Capella, Oleksander Koshyts, commissioned the Ukrainian composer Mykola Leontovych to create a song based on traditional Ukrainian folk music. The resulting choral composition, "", was based on a four-note motif Leontovych found in the Ukrainian anthology. The original Ukrainian title translates to "the generous one", or is perhaps derived from the Ukrainian word for bountiful (),

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 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.

Notable recordings

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  • 1963: Carol of the Bells in an orchestral version, conducted by Leonard Bernstein, and New York Philharmonic Orchestra: on the LP The Joy of Christmas, also featuring The Mormon Tabernacle Choir, directed by Richard P. Condie, recorded in Salt Lake City, September 3, 1963.
  • 2016: Voctave performed this song a capella for their album "The Spirit of the Season". It was paired with Stephen Schwartz and Alan Menken's Christmas edition of "The Bells of Notre Dame", a musical number from Disney's 1996 animated blockbuster The Hunchback of Notre Dame.
  • 2021: In their 2021-2022 album, The War to End All Wars, the Swedish metal band Sabaton included a segment from Carol Of The Bells in the intro and outro segment of their song single "Christmas Truce".
  • 2022: Composer Andrea Vanzo released a solo piano variation on the theme of "Carol of the Bells", as the debut single from his EP “Little Christmas Variations”.

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  • The song appears in the 1990 film Home Alone as arranged by John Williams. In 2018, this version charted at No. 20 on the Swedish Heatseeker chart.
  • 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.

Charts

Pentatonix version

{|class="wikitable plainrowheaders sortable" style="text-align:center"

|-

! Chart (2013–2014)

! Peak<br />position

|-

! scope="row"| US Holiday 100 (Billboard)

| 66

|}

John Williams version

{|class="wikitable plainrowheaders sortable" style="text-align:center"

|-

! Chart (2017–2026)

! Peak<br />position

|-

! scope="row"| Australia (ARIA)

| 34

|-

|-

|-

|-

|-

! scope="row"| Greece International (IFPI)

| 21

|-

|-

|-

|-

! scope="row"| Italy (FIMI)

| 54

|-

! scope="row"| Latvia Streaming (LaIPA)

| 17

|-

! scope="row"| Lithuania (AGATA)

| 28

|-

|-

! scope="row"| New Zealand (Recorded Music NZ)

| 33

|-

! scope="row"| Norway (IFPI Norge)

| 44

|-

! scope="row"| Poland (Polish Streaming Top 100)

| 28

|-

! scope="row"| Portugal (AFP)

| 56

|-

! scope="row"| Sweden (Sverigetopplistan)

| 60

|-

|-

|-

!scope="row"|US Holiday 100 (Billboard)

| 47

|}

Mantikor version

{|class="wikitable plainrowheaders sortable" style="text-align:center"

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! Chart (2021)

! Peak<br />position

|-

! scope="row"| DE Deutsche Compilationcharts

| 3

|}

Certifications

Pentatonix version

John Williams version

See also

  • List of Christmas carols

References

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