Uploaded December 2019 | Updated September 2026, 22 minutes ago
Happy Holidays Everyone!! Here is a version of the Christmas song, "Carol of the Bells." This piece was composed by Mykola Leontovych as a song called, "Shchedryk," and originally didn't have anything to do with Christmas. It was a New Years song, but the new year used to be celebrated around springtime before the Julian calendar was adopted. The original Ukrainian lyrics are about a little swallow flying back home to tell a family they will have a prosperous year -- baby lambs are being born, a good harvest is expected, etc.
Original lyrics as an English translation (from Wikipedia):
Shchedryk, shchedryk, a shchedrivka [New Year's carol];
A little swallow flew [into the household]
and started to twitter,
to summon the master:
"Come out, come out, O master [of the household],
look at the sheep pen,
there the ewes have yeaned
and the lambkins have been born
Your goods [livestock] are great,
you will have a lot of money, [by selling them].
If not money, then chaff: [from all the grain you will harvest]
you have a dark-eyebrowed [beautiful] wife."
Shchedryk, shchedryk, a shchedrivka,
A little swallow flew.
The Christmas-related lyrics were written by Peter J. Wilhousky around the 1930s. Interestingly, because the Wilhousky's lyrics and the original melody were created at different times, the Christmas-related song lyrics are still under copyright, but the melody and original Ukrainian lyrics are in public domain. That makes the song in public domain for instrumental versions!
Here are Wilhousky's Christmas-version 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.
Ding dong ding dong
that is their song
with joyful ring
all caroling.
One seems to hear
words of good cheer
from everywhere
filling the air.
Oh how they pound,
raising the sound,
o'er hill and dale,
telling their tale.
Gaily they ring
while people sing
songs of good cheer,
Christmas is here.
Merry, Merry, Merry, Merry Christmas,
Merry, Merry, Merry, Merry Christmas.
On on they send,
on without end,
their joyful tone
to every home.
Ding dong ding... dong!
I find it fascinating how lyrics can change a song's meaning, and can even change what holiday it's often associated with. One of the coolest-sounding Christmas Carols wasn't even originally written for Christmas! :o
Also, did you know that you can play music on wine glasses?!!?? Playing music with wine glasses is sometimes referred to as playing a "glass harp." Some wine glasses are harder to make a sound than others, but I love the sound they can make! If you dampen the glass and your hand with some water, and gently move your hand around the rim, the glass will start to sing. Sometimes it takes some patience and practice to get a glass to sound, and sometimes tapping the glass helps. Adding water to the glass will lower the pitch, but it can sound garbled if you add too much water. The whole thing is pretty neat!
For this video, I used what nice-sounding glasses I could find at the thrift store. I got some pretty ugly looks from people while I was testing out the glasses hoping to find a few that were reasonably in tune for G minor and A minor lol. I learned that it's difficult to find wine glasses that can create lower notes, and creating an entire scale is quite a feat... But, I think I'll try to include these in my music in the future!
This is another simpler video. It's a lot easier for me to make simpler videos like this -- I hope people still like them!! :D
I can't believe it's Christmas time again already! It feels like Christmas was just last month -- time really does fly! I hope you are enjoying the holiday season! :)
Thank you for watching, and I hope you have a good holiday time!!! =)
~ Katy
------------
A super big "Thank You" goes to my supporters on Patreon:
patreon.com/KatyAdelson
Music store website:
goldenaspenmusic.com
Artist portfolio website:
katyadelson.com
Download/stream my "Tune Collection" album:
fanlink.to/TuneCollection
Download/stream my "Ghost Ship" single:
fanlink.to/GhostShip
Hashtags:
#CarolOfTheBells #ChristmasCarol #Violin #Fiddle #KatyAdelson #Music #HolidayMusic
Software and equipment used:
Full list of all my basic violin equipment:
katyadelson.com/about/violin-equipment-and-recommendations
Violin gear:
Violin: 1899 Ernst Kreusler “Copy of Antonius Stradivarius” violin from Germany
Bow: CodaBow Luma
Strings: I'm using Obligato strings in this video. I usually use and recommend Evah Pirazzi Violin Strings (with a ball E), but I've been experimenting wiht different strings.
Rosin: Salchow Rosin
Shoulder Rest: Bonmusica Shoulder Rest
Software used (for Macintosh):
Final Cut Pro for video editing
PicMonkey.com for the ending cards
Camera:
Sony RX100 V
Microphone for audio recording:
Blue Woodpecker
Happy Holidays Everyone!! Here is a version of the Christmas song, "Carol of the Bells." This piece was composed by Mykola Leontovych as a song called, "Shchedryk," and originally didn't have anything to do with Christmas. It was a New Years song, but the new year used to be celebrated around springtime before the Julian calendar was adopted. The original Ukrainian lyrics are about a little swallow flying back home to tell a family they will have a prosperous year -- baby lambs are being born, a good harvest is expected, etc.
Original lyrics as an English translation (from Wikipedia):
Shchedryk, shchedryk, a shchedrivka [New Year's carol];
A little swallow flew [into the household]
and started to twitter,
to summon the master:
"Come out, come out, O master [of the household],
look at the sheep pen,
there the ewes have yeaned
and the lambkins have been born
Your goods [livestock] are great,
you will have a lot of money, [by selling them].
If not money, then chaff: [from all the grain you will harvest]
you have a dark-eyebrowed [beautiful] wife."
Shchedryk, shchedryk, a shchedrivka,
A little swallow flew.
The Christmas-related lyrics were written by Peter J. Wilhousky around the 1930s. Interestingly, because the Wilhousky's lyrics and the original melody were created at different times, the Christmas-related song lyrics are still under copyright, but the melody and original Ukrainian lyrics are in public domain. That makes the song in public domain for instrumental versions!
Here are Wilhousky's Christmas-version 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.
Ding dong ding dong
that is their song
with joyful ring
all caroling.
One seems to hear
words of good cheer
from everywhere
filling the air.
Oh how they pound,
raising the sound,
o'er hill and dale,
telling their tale.
Gaily they ring
while people sing
songs of good cheer,
Christmas is here.
Merry, Merry, Merry, Merry Christmas,
Merry, Merry, Merry, Merry Christmas.
On on they send,
on without end,
their joyful tone
to every home.
Ding dong ding... dong!
I find it fascinating how lyrics can change a song's meaning, and can even change what holiday it's often associated with. One of the coolest-sounding Christmas Carols wasn't even originally written for Christmas! :o
Also, did you know that you can play music on wine glasses?!!?? Playing music with wine glasses is sometimes referred to as playing a "glass harp." Some wine glasses are harder to make a sound than others, but I love the sound they can make! If you dampen the glass and your hand with some water, and gently move your hand around the rim, the glass will start to sing. Sometimes it takes some patience and practice to get a glass to sound, and sometimes tapping the glass helps. Adding water to the glass will lower the pitch, but it can sound garbled if you add too much water. The whole thing is pretty neat!
For this video, I used what nice-sounding glasses I could find at the thrift store. I got some pretty ugly looks from people while I was testing out the glasses hoping to find a few that were reasonably in tune for G minor and A minor lol. I learned that it's difficult to find wine glasses that can create lower notes, and creating an entire scale is quite a feat... But, I think I'll try to include these in my music in the future!
This is another simpler video. It's a lot easier for me to make simpler videos like this -- I hope people still like them!! :D
I can't believe it's Christmas time again already! It feels like Christmas was just last month -- time really does fly! I hope you are enjoying the holiday season! :)
Thank you for watching, and I hope you have a good holiday time!!! =)
~ Katy
------------
A super big "Thank You" goes to my supporters on Patreon:
patreon.com/KatyAdelson
Music store website:
goldenaspenmusic.com
Artist portfolio website:
katyadelson.com
Download/stream my "Tune Collection" album:
fanlink.to/TuneCollection
Download/stream my "Ghost Ship" single:
fanlink.to/GhostShip
Hashtags:
#CarolOfTheBells #ChristmasCarol #Violin #Fiddle #KatyAdelson #Music #HolidayMusic
Software and equipment used:
Full list of all my basic violin equipment:
katyadelson.com/about/violin-equipment-and-recommendations
Violin gear:
Violin: 1899 Ernst Kreusler “Copy of Antonius Stradivarius” violin from Germany
Bow: CodaBow Luma
Strings: I'm using Obligato strings in this video. I usually use and recommend Evah Pirazzi Violin Strings (with a ball E), but I've been experimenting wiht different strings.
Rosin: Salchow Rosin
Shoulder Rest: Bonmusica Shoulder Rest
Software used (for Macintosh):
Final Cut Pro for video editing
PicMonkey.com for the ending cards
Camera:
Sony RX100 V
Microphone for audio recording:
Blue Woodpecker
