Shchedryk

Kupalo songfolkComposerArranger

Mar 21

Written By andrew waller

Translated Text

Score Ukrainian

Score Transliterated

Shchedryk | Щедрик | Shchedryk

Arranger: Mykola Leontovych | Микола Леонтович

The melody is familiar to many as 'The Carol of the Bells', but the original shchedrivka is neither a carol nor about bells, but is a New Year's song about a swallow, the harbinger of spring, who arrives and calls out to the Master of the House to view the bounty of his fields and livestock and to appreciate his beautiful black-browed wife. Ukrainian Christmas traditions reflect achievements of an ancient culture, impressive in the musical and contextual diversity of its songs and in the number of its carols and epiphany carols. There are two distinct groups of Ukrainian Christmas music. Koljadky (Ukrainian Christmas Carols) are sung in church alongside traditional liturgical texts and hymns from Christmas Eve (January 6, according to the Julian Calendar) to Epiphany (January 19). Shchedrivky (New Year’s songs), being much older and having pagan roots, are rarely sung in a liturgical setting given their secular themes of bounty and prosperity. These delightful and festive new-year folk songs of felicitation, with their charming and rhythmic melodies, reflect sectarian life and express wishes for health, happiness and bountiful harvests.

Koljadky and shchedrivky are an important part of Vesnivka's repertoire and have been sung annually since the ensemble was established in 1965.