Birth and early life
Mykola Leontovych was born on December 13 [O.S. December 1] 1877 in the village of Monastyrok community near the village of Selevyntsi in the Podillya region of Ukraine.[1] His father was a village priest, skilled at playing cello, violin, and guitar, in addition to directing a school choir. Leontovych received his first musical lessons from him.
In 1887, Leontovych was admitted to Nemyriv gymnasium. However only a year later, due to financial problems, his father transferred him to the Sharhorod Spiritual Beginners School, where pupils were financially fully supported.[2] At the school, Leontovych mastered singing, and was able to freely read difficult passages from religious choral texts.
From 1892 until 1899, Mykola Leontovych attended the theological seminary in Kamianets-Podilskyi, where he sang in choir, began to study Ukrainian music, and began his first attempts at choral arranging.[3] After teaching at schools throughout Ukraine, including in the guberniyas of Kiev, Yekaterinoslav, and Podolia, he moved on to study music.
Career in Music
In the spring of 1904, he left the Podillya and moved to the Donbas region in eastern Ukraine, where he became a teacher of voice and music in a school for children of railroad workers.[4] During the Russian Revolution of 1905, Leontovych organized a choir of workers that performed in meetings. Leontovych's activity caught the attention of local authorities, and he was forced to move back to the city of Tulchyn, Podillya, where he taught music and voice at the Tulchyn Eparchy Women's college to the daughters of village priests.[4] Leontovych further pursued his musical education in Saint Petersburg, where he earned his credentials as a choirmaster of church choruses.[1] From 1909, he studied under famous musical theoretic Boleslav Yavorsky,[2][4] whom he periodically visited in Moscow and Kiev (Kyiv).
During that time, he created numerous choral arrangements, namely Shchedryk, but also «Піють півні», «Мала мати одну дочку», «Дударик», «Ой зійшла зоря» and others. In Tulchyn, he met the composer Kyrylo Stetsenko. In 1916, with the choir of the Kiev University he performed his arrangement of Shchedryk, which brought him great success from the public in Kiev. In 1918, at a period of short-lived Ukrainian independence, Leontovych began teaching at the Kiev Conservatory as well as the Mykola Lysenko Institute of Music and Drama.
Death
During the night of January 22-23, 1921, Mykola Leontovych was murdered by a Chekist (Soviet state security) agent Victor Grishchenko at the home of his parents.[5]
Works
Mykola Leontovych's is remembered today mostly because of the body of musical works he left behind, including over 150 choral compositions which range from artistic arrangements of folk songs, religious works (including his liturgy), cantatas, and choral compositions set to the texts of various Ukrainian poets.
Leontovych also started work on an Ukrainian opera (Na rusalchyn velykden’ - On the Water Nymph's Easter) based on the writing of Borys Hrinchenko, however, he did not complete it. Composer Myroslav Skoryk completed the opera in 1978.
Carol Of The Bells
Mykola Dmytrovych Leontovych Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
sweet silver bells
all seem to say
throw cares away
Christmas is here
bringing good cheer
to young and old
Ding dong ding dong
that is their song
With joyful ring
all carolling
One seems to hear
words of good cheer
from eveywhere
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
Gloria, in excelsis Deo
Gloria
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 carolling
One seems to hear
words of good cheer
from eveywhere
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
Gloria, in excelsis Deo
Gloria
Gaily they ring
while people sing
songs of good cheer
Christmas is here
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 carolling
One seems to hear
words of good cheer
from eveywhere
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
Gaily they ring
while people sing
songs of good cheer
Christmas is here
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 carolling
One seems to hear
words of good cheer
from eveywhere
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
Gaily they ring
while people sing
songs of good cheer
Christmas is here
Merry, merry, merry, merry Christmas
On on they send
on without end
their joyful tone to every home
Ding dong ding dong
That is their song
The song "Carol of the Bells," written by Mykola Dmytrovych Leontovych, is a traditional Ukrainian folk song about the ringing of bells on Christmas. The lyrics describe the joyful sound of the bells and their message of spreading good cheer during the holiday season. The song reflects the happiness and excitement that people feel during the Christmas season, as well as the sense of community that is created when people come together to celebrate.
The opening lines "Hark how the bells, sweet silver bells, all seem to say throw cares away" suggest that the sound of the bells transforms people's worries temporarily and brings them together in celebration. The repetition of "ding dong" throughout the song creates a cheerful and lively atmosphere. The phrase "Gloria, in excelsis Deo" is a traditional Christmas hymn, and it is added to the song to reinforce the religious undertones of the season as well.
Overall, "Carol of the Bells" is a joyous song that celebrates the holiday season and brings people together in a sense of community and shared happiness.
Line by Line Meaning
Hark how the bells
Listen to the sound of the bells
sweet silver bells
The bells have a pleasant, musical quality
all seem to say
The bells give the impression of expressing something
throw cares away
Let go of any worries or concerns
Christmas is here
The holiday season is upon us
bringing good cheer
Providing happiness and joy to all
to young and old
Regardless of age
meek and the bold
For those who are timid and brave
Ding dong ding dong
The sound of the bells
that is their song
This is what the bells are 'singing'
With joyful ring
The bells sound happy and celebratory
all carolling
The bells are singing loudly and joyously
One seems to hear
It appears as though you can hear
words of good cheer
Messages of happiness and positivity
from everywhere
The atmosphere is filled with these messages
filling the air
Creating a pervasive feeling or mood
Oh how they pound
The bells sound powerful and forceful
raising the sound
Increasing the volume of the music
o'er hill and dale
Throughout the entire countryside
telling their tale
The sound of the bells is telling a story
Gaily they ring
The bells sound happy and festive
while people sing
As people are singing along
songs of good cheer
Happy and celebratory music
Gloria, in excelsis Deo
Praising God in the highest
Gloria
Glory be to God
Merry, merry, merry, merry Christmas
Wishing a happy and joyous Christmas
On on they send
The sound of the bells carries on and continues
on without end
The music of the bells continues indefinitely
their joyful tone to every home
Bringing happiness and celebration to all households
Writer(s): Peter J. Wilhousky, Mykola Leontovych, Ronald Alan Mendelsohn, John Dwyer
Contributed by Arianna J. Suggest a correction in the comments below.