Shchedryk (song)

"Shchedryk"
Disc label for the 1922 recording of "Shchedryk" by the Ukrainian National Choir
Song
Released	1901 (first version) 1919 (final revision)
Songwriter(s)	Mykola Leontovych

"Shchedryk" (Ukrainian: Щедрик, from Щедрий вечiр, lit. 'Bountiful Evening') is a Ukrainian shchedrivka, or New Year's song, known in English as "The Little Swallow". It was arranged by the Ukrainian composer Mykola Leontovych between 1901 and 1919. The song tells a story of a swallow flying into a household to sing of the wealth that will come with the following spring.^[1] "Shchedryk" was originally sung on the night of January 13, New Year's Eve in the Julian Calendar (December 31 Old Style), known in Ukraine as Malanka or Shchedry Vechir [uk] ("Generous Evening"). Early performances of the piece were made by students at Kyiv University.

The song was made into a Christmas carol, "Carol of the Bells", by the American composer and educator Peter J. Wilhousky, following a performance of the original song by Alexander Koshetz's Ukrainian National Chorus at Carnegie Hall on October 5, 1922.^[2] Wilhousky copyrighted and published his own lyrics in 1936. The music has since become strongly associated with Christmas.^[3]

The song is an example of a Ukrainian shchedrivka [uk], whilst the English words of "The Little Swallow" identifies it as a koliadka.