The Carol of the Bells
Mykola Leontovych (Music)
Peter Wilhousky (Lyrics)
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
Shadows darken this Christmas classic from Ukraine, whose racing, rhythmic melody was originally written by Ukrainian Composer Mykola Leontovych as a New Year’s ditty based on a folk tune and later popularized as a Christmas carol with new English words from Peter Wilhousky, an American Lyricist of Slavic descent. Leontovych was murdered by the Soviet secret police in the aftermath of the 1918 Bolshevik Revolution and taught music for a time in Pokrovsk, the frontline town where the Ukrainian army is currently holding back invading Russian forces. Ukrainian Greek Catholic Iconographer Ulyana Krekhovets shows the Virgin Mary extending her protective mantel over a besieged Ukrainian city and a boatload of refugees, while the swaddled Christ Child peacefully rests on a distant shore. (John Kohan)