Shchedryk (Carol Of The Bells)

The Ukrainians

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Cat No: ZRKCDS11

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Format Details:

Release Date: 08 December 2017

Label: Zirka Records

Packaging Type: Slip Sleeve (CD or Vinyl)

No of Units: 1

Barcode: 0702669860468

Genres: World Music Folk

Description
The Ukrainians' new 'Shchedryk' single is their unique, frantic Cossack folk-punk take on the most famous Ukrainian song in the world!

Written as a winter well-wishing song in 1916 by Ukrainian composer Mykola Leontovich, the lyrics describe a swallow calling out to a farmer and telling him about the wealth that he will possess - healthy livestock, money and a beautiful wife. The swallow is a herald of spring coming, referring to its possible pre-Christian origins.

The song's title is derived from the Ukrainian word "shchedryj," which means "bountiful." It has a haunting four-note motif, and was composed and performed at a time when there was intense political struggle and social upheaval in Ukraine.

For a Christmas concert, a choir director by the name of Oleksander Koshyts commissioned the song, which was performed by the Ukrainian National Chorus, mandated by a fledgling Ukrainian government in 1919 to promote Ukrainian music in major cultural centres in the West. Like The Ukrainians themselves in more recent turbulent times, they toured across Europe and North America with a mission, performing over 1,000 concerts.

The EP includes three further tracks:

'California Dreaming / She's Lost Control' - a beautiful version of the Mamas and Papas 1960s US classic infused with the 1990s gritty northern England realism of Joy Division.

'Oy Dunayu Dunayu' - a traditional Ukrainian love song whose story takes place on the banks of the Danube.

'Chy Znayesh Ty' - a Ukrainians original song that tells the story of a person with Ukrainian heritage going back to Ukraine to visit the graves of his ancestors whose village had been destroyed.
Tracklisting