Support 12tone on Patreon to help us keep making cool videos! www.patreon.com/12tonevideos Some additional thoughts/corrections: 1) Honestly there's even more to this story that I wound up cutting for time/flow, but I'd recommend reading through some of the other histories if you really want that. They're all linked in the script doc in the description, but here's the main one I used: slate.com/news-and-politics/2019/12/carol-bells-shchedryk-ukraine-leontovych.html 2) I'd intended this to be more about the music itself but I wanted to start with some history and then the story got so interesting that it just became the whole video instead. There's a lot to say on a more music-analytical side, though, too. Maybe I'll make that video next year. 3) Is Mannheim Steamroller a metal band? Not really, but they're metal-adjacent, so for the purposes of the point I was making it didn't seem worth qualifying. Sorry if you care.
11:36 I think having "Carol Of the Bells" sung by the choir where it is... is actually a musical cue- this time for "Marley's coming!" "Why," you might ask? Just remember what Marley's motif is throughout the movie- a single iteration of *this* motif played straight, in other words, _as_ the Dies Irae! (Edit: you talk about *all* of this!) And I also love both "metal-adjacent" groups' (i.e. TSO and Mannheim Steamroller) arrangements! But bringing TSO up leads me to another question: was Pachelbel's Canon associated with Christmas *before* TSO? Besides their "Christmas Eve Sarajevo," that (their first, less rock-driven arrangement) is their most-streamed track on Spotify!
Thanks anyway for the Mannheim Steamroller shoutout! I grew up in Nebraska, less than an hour from Chip Davis's home in Omaha! (GBR!) Their Wikipedia page classifies them as “Neoclassical/New Age/Progressive Rock”; they released 6 “Fresh Aire” albums before their first Christmas album in 1984.
I'm Ukrainian and I was a bit apprehensive going into this video because so much of our culture seems to be misrepresented in the west (because usually the people spreading the information aren't educated on the subject), but this video turned out to be very thoughtful and very well researched. thank you from the bottom of my heart for sharing what you've learned with your big audience, it means a lot. and happy holidays!
I'm not Ukrainian but know that part of the world well. I've always tried to explain the history of the song to people. If they're still listening at the end I give them Oy u luzi chervona kalina as well. Veselikh svyat, yakomoga bil'she. Mi z Vami.
I didn't expect 12tone to actually dig into Ukrainian history. Once you start reading into it, you can't stop but also have to abandon any chance of making light-hearted video about Christmas.
man, I'm watching you for years. And you just got my biggest respect. Thanks for remembering the Ukrainian roots of Shchedryk - and the whole bloody story of our centuries long struggle against russian imperialism, even for keeping our national songs
I will be performing soon Schedryk in a choir, and you can't imagine, how people of all different ages and backgrounds love it all the same. There is something magical about it, and I will never not love it with my dear passion. Rest in peace, Mykola Leontovich, and thank you for your work.
The hell are you talking about? Ukraine is as Russian as Delaware is American, or Rome is Italian. Pretending otherwise just leads to more "struggle". Maybe if y'all stopped worshipping Bandera, you might not have lost all your young men
The Trans-Siberian Orchestra interpretation (Christmas Eve/Sarajevo 12/24)) is taken from the ending of Savatage's "Dead Winter Dead" album (TSO is just a repackaging of Savatage), a concept album that takes place in Yugoslavia from the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1990 to the Yugoslav Wars in 1994. The piece represents a cellist playing Christmas carols in the ruins of the city center (based on the story of Vedran Smailović, who would play Albinondi's Adagio in Dm every night to honor the dead), and is killed on Christmas Eve during an artillery strike. That is why it is so bombastic and explosive.
@@mariebelladonna437 Vedran Smailović is still alive (at the time of this comment), but the character in the album is killed. Dead Winter Dead is an amazing album, but Savatage completely reinvented themselves after Christmas Eve/Sarajevo 12/24 started getting radio play. A lot of radio play.
I mean also it's straight up minor, and it features the "lament bass" descending movement. Even without the technical use of the Dies Irae, it would sound ominous as shit
@@althealligator1467all my favorite “Xmas carols” are minor keys or minor-sounding modes. Oh Come Oh Come Emmanuel is another one, with cheery lyrics like “Ransom captive Israel, which mourns in lonely exile here”. And Coventry Carol, which is singing about Herod’s supposed murder of the innocents (all the 2 year old boys) in an attempt to stop the Christ from eventually subverting the rule of Rome. These all sounded DIFFERENT to my ears, and even though I was never a goth or anything like it, I just really liked the sound.
A million years ago, just after I had graduated high school, I returned to the annual winter performance of my choir. There was a tradition at the time of all the alumni coming to do Carol of the Bells with the rest of the choir. The secret-not-secret goal of all the alumni was to push the tempo as fast as possible because it made our choir director absolutely apoplectic with rage. Good times.
Yes! It’s so much better in 1! 😂 I wonder if every school chorus everywhere has sooner or later tried the increasing tempo version of this song, just to see how fast you could get it before falling apart? Good times indeed!
I got to sing this in high school chorus, but one time the men's quartet and the women's trio had a performance, and, after our respective songs, we ended up doing an impromptu rendition of Carol of the Bells but with only one of us on each part and it was truly magical, being only teenagers and with nobody who told us to do it, we just went for it and nailed it.
Very cool. My kid just got done playing a (simplified) version in middle school band. I would love to see them revisit it next year in collaboration with the choir. Even cooler, but probably too much to ask for middle schoolers, and would be to play it in the spring with a bit of intro about the folk music origin and the Ukrainian (or direct English translation) lyrics.
12:10 Said the TH-camr to the Star Wars guy, Do you hear what I hear? A bar, a bar, signifying dread, that you play when somebody's dead That you play when somebody's dead
This was always my favorite part of the midnight church service as a kid. The choir would stand just outside the doors and sing it a capella, it always felt spooky and exciting. It’s always been one of my favorites to hear especially when sung a capella.
I was very excited when I saw this video. With how much care and research you put into your other videos I was hopeful you would do Щедрик justice. You showed such respect and appreciation for Mykola and thoughtfully represented Ukrianian culture history. I thought I already knew everything regarding Щедрик and Carol of the Bells but you taught me something new about modern usage. Excellent video.
Less than fun fact: the Cheka was founded Dec 20, 1917, 107 years to the day before this video was released. Interesting that it was brought up. I had mentioned it in my morning work meeting today, and then 12tone(one of the best music youtube creators) talks about one of their missions on my lunch break. What a strange coincidence. Great video by the way. Always one of my favorites. That and Veni Veni Emanuel.
It doesn't remotely surprise me that a song created with inspiration from the rites of spring is so succinctly tied to a musical motif associated with death. Great video once again. Have a good holiday and happy new year.
5:47 small correction. Poland wasn't a notable backer of Ukraine, at least initially. First of all, independent Ukraine predates independent Poland. Ukraine got it in separate brest litovsk treaty, poland got it after Versailles year later. So the most notable backer of the Ukrainian state was Germany, and to less extent, Austria Secondly, Poland was claiming and controlling most of western Ukraine, which tried to fight for its own independence but was overwhelmed. Poland did help Ukraine one time after ww1 ended to fight the soviets, but they were losing, Ukraine was swept completely, and Poland had to fight for itself and miraculously succeded Through all of that, the Entente actually was against Ukraine in whatever form, backing the whites and occupying Ukrainian ports.
I'll also say on the topic of the melody sounding "dark" or "ominous", I've certainly always felt like it sounded "dark" thematically. IMO, at least from a Western musical cultural context, a descending minor third in any circumstance is melancholic. It's either bittersweet, threatening, depressive, etc. The first example that comes to mind is Radiohead's "How to Disappear Completely" has very prominent descending minor-third melodic fragments/motifs.
Carol of the Bells sounds joyful and light to you guys? Never in my life have I not perceived it as dark and ominous and nightly but whimsical, and it's probably the first ever "use" of the Dies Irae I ever heard.
What a thing to learn.. given the current war, great info to share and learn of a Ukrainian folk song turned Christmas song. As for me with Christmas songs... rarely listen to anything but I might throw on the Nutcracker and/or Handel's MESSIAH which I've had the pleasure of seeing my local orchestra play.
Holy shit. You just unlocked something in my brain. I've also always felt like Carol of the Bells had a sorta...darker, melancholic sound to it, but couldn't place why. DIES IRAE! I can't believe I never noticed that before! I'm pretty familiar with the dies irae, we sang Mozart's Dies Irae at state when I was in choir in high school. How could I have missed that!?
This was the first time I've heard one of your videos. My friends and I just saw Trans Siberian Orchestra and were talking about how dark and melancholy it sounded for being a happy Christmas song. Now I'm kicking myself for not catching the dias eire since I watched a whole video of how it was used in the Frozen soundtrack. I'll definitely be watching more of your stuff.
VoicePlay's bass singer, Geoff Castellucci, released a solo version of "Carol of the Bells" two weeks ago. It looks like it should reach 1 million TH-cam views before the end of the month. It's an impressive and powerful arrangement. Be sure to read the video description credits. Wow!
@@lorisewsstuff1607 Geoff and the acapella group, VoicePlay, that he is a founding member of are impressive and 100% indie so not nearly as well known as they deserve to be. The guys have learned to do most things all by themselves. Before the pandemic shutdown, they toured extensively. Once everything shut down they turned to studio work. The three older guys in VoicePlay are married with young children at home so they decided not to go back on the road and focus on monthly TH-cam releases. That's also when Geoff started posting music videos to his solo channel (Kathy made him, bless her!). If you noticed the video description of "Carol of the Bells," Geoff and his wife did it all except for the final sound mix, which always goes to Ed Boyer. They filmed the day before Thanksgiving, Geoff "edited like crazy" then released it to his patrons three days later. Geoff does all of the layered vocals and all of the instrumentation on his solo channel, which isn't acapella, of course. It's mindblowing (as is his 5-octave vocal range...3 octaves in full chest voice).
I always took it as a dark side of winter, because it is literally the only song I can think of that plays so much in a minor key. I think of other Christmas songs and they are all about being warm and cozy bundled up enjoying the snow. Maybe a nice cup of cocoa. This evokes a feeling of being cold and not being able to get warm. In my list of Christmas songs I’m not even sure it ranks. However this is the content I like and I now look at it differently after watching. It’s maybe not going to be my favorite but I’ll listen to it in a new context.
I don't know if you're religious or not but I am Lutheran and have always been fond of the Advent season. It is very much overshadowed by the Christmas season, and like, I get it people want to celebrate while they prepare and then they're all Christmased out by the time the religious Christmas season (aka the 12 days of Christmas from Dec 25-Jan 5) takes place. But Advent is that anxious and somewhat somber period of waiting before Christmas and there are some great songs about waiting that I just love. "I Wonder as I Wander" is a hauntingly beautiful Advent song that will never make it to our local malls or pop Christmas playlists but is also one of my absolute favorites.
Carol of the Bells is, regardless of how closely it's tied to Christmas, one of the most musically malleable and historically interesting songs tied to the holidays, and I love it because of that malleability for writing/composing with. Certified banger.
My home town of Corvallis, Oregon had the Sister City of Uzhorod, Ukraine. My church was once fortunate enough to host that city's choir Cantus on a local tour. Of course, one of the songs they sang was Shchedryk. Hopefully they are doing as well as they can in these evil times.
I feel like I called many of the reference points for movies! I'm glad I was right! This has been super enlightening because this too is my favorite Christmas song. Its so good! I don't see how anyone can see this song as joyful though. It's always felt dark to me. But cool! Love this!
The strange coincidence of Dies Irae matching Shchedryk's hopeful spring melody with it's descending chord structure make it an ideal Christmas song. Our celebrations at this time of year - Christmas, Yule and the New Year are about hopeful new beginnings that replace the old. The old ways die but instead of mourning we look to the new testament, the revival of nature and new start for ourselves.
I know this song as Ruby Sunday's song. Before I heard it used in Doctor Who, I don't think I had heard it before. This increased my knowledge about it immensely.
I had no idea the modern version of Carol of the Bells was made so recently. Wow! Also, agreed that Carol of the Bells is kinda creepy/apocalyptic. It works great in christmas horror films, since it has dies irae in it.
Great video. You let the tale take you where it needed to go, and that's one of the essences of something you do well; great storytelling. gj and happy holidays.
If you're looking for a Christmas piece with a darker edge, try Casting Crowns "I Heard the Bells on Christmas Day." It reflects the original poem very well.
I listened to mostly contemporary Christian music throughout college, but since I moved to Kansas 19 1/2 years ago, I've mostly switched to Classical played on Kansas Public Radio. Last night when I was out, since All Things Considered is on KPR from 3-7, I switched the car radio to Family Life Radio, & that Casting Crowns song came on!! I CRANKED the volume WAY UP!
FINALLY someone aknowledging and discussing the similarity between the melodies of Shchedryk and the Dies Irae! Thank you! For what it's worth, I suspect the song Making Christmas also plays on the ambiguity, since it is about the inhabitants of Halloween pulling together their morbid skills to prepare their own version of Christmas.
0:38 Not the patriots logo im WEAK 😂😂 Also, sp glad you included the mention of Sabaton. Many people never heard "Cristmas Truce" and it is criminally underrated
I think I read about the origins of this song on tumblr, thank you so much for sharing your in-depth research and analysis and deepening my appreciation of this fantastic song ❤
I'm a connoisseur of Christmas, especially the music and including this song. I always found it curious how certain songs which were about a joyous season with joyous lyrics could somehow end up in minor keys. I suppose that was the giveaway that there was something more here. TSO certainly does capture some of the serious meaning as the backdrop of their version of this song is in fact a city ravaged by war. Excellent video 12tone!
This has been one of my favourite Christmas carols ever since I first heard it growing up. I knew about the Ukrainian folk song it came from but this video was great in providing so much more information and background. And I never thought about the whole Dies Irae connection! Like you that's probably a big part of why I've loved it and now I know thanks to this video!
The cthulu based lovecraftian cover version 'Carol of the old ones' is my antidote to xmas. Look for 'A very scary solstice' and the seaquel 'An even scarier solstice' for loads more similar covers
Carol of the Bells has always spooked me. Lovely, really lovely, but spooky. I think this is to a large extent due to Williams' use in Home Alone which is likely where I first heard it. Great video, as always. Thanks Cory.
What an awesome video; I love it when researching something innocuous turns up a good old rabbit hole to fall down! Thanks for all your great content, and happy whatever to you and yours!
There isn't a "pagan roots of Christmas". If anything, paganism stole from Christianity. It's your kind of false propaganda that keeps these lies going. Learn some real history and not this click bate demonstrably false history.
Some of my favorite Christmas songs are Sabaton's "Christmas Truce," Theocracy's "Wynter Fever," and Demon Hunter's "The Wind." Psychostick also has some funny Christmas parodies. Like Weird Al style, but metal.
Usually these videos go deep into musical theory so far outside my ken that I go cross-eyed. But this one was a bunch of history and interesting John Williams tidbits that were very digestible with music bits that were simple enough for my musical education to get the gist of. Neat!
If anyone is interested in checking out more old Ukrainian winter songs, please check out "Rozkoliada" from the ensemble KURBASY - it's a whole concert recorded with treats for the ears in the renditions they perform of old carols!
I literally rewatched Home Alone a couple of days ago and noticed both the Dies Irae motif at the beginning for the first time anf the cool arrangement around Carol of the Bells at the end but I didn't make the connection between the two until you started building the groundwork for doing so in the video. At the time it also solidified the song as one of the few I truly enjoy listening to in the genre and probably my favourite, so I was pleasantly surprised to see 12Tone picking it as its last song to analyse it for 2024 (fun coincidences!). I loved discovering the historical and political background of it, which brings even more weight to its meaning and to me increases its importance especially in these troubled times.
This is a relatively new discovery for me in the UK. It is now heard every Christmas, but wasn't that common twenty years ago. I have always thought it sounded weird - not dark necessarily - but not very Christian. I genuinely thought it was from one of the Harry Potter soundtracks for a while. It was a revelation to learn the true history thank you for the work. and thanks to the people of Ukraine for showing the world what is right and what must be fought for.
“Carol of the Bells” is my favorite “Christmas” song… or maybe the only one that doesn’t make me want to die. It’s definitely a “banger”, though. I’ve always loved it.
This is amazing. I was literally pondering the origins of this piece last week. I didn't have the time to do the research that day and it slipped from my mind. Thank you so much for this one! This is truly fascinating.
Those descending tones! That's what makes it feel so ominous for me; I can't score it out in a youtube comment, but I was expecting those highlighted descending tones to come up as part of why it feels so ominous.
Thank you for explaining the whys of that ominous feeling throughout the Carol of the Bells, I just listened to a version that (to my uneducated ears) sounded so beautiful, and from beginning to end I had that weird feeling of "epic battle" while having much less "Christmas feelings" than expected. The fact that it's a "low bass singer version" (Geoff Castellucci) may have helped... 😅. I will put the link to this video in a comment about the low bass singer's video. I believe the audience will find this very interesting. 🙂 Thank you again. Merry Everything and a Happy always! 🙂
One quibble about TSO. Technically, that version of the song is Savatage. It was on the '95 Dead Winter Dead album. Per interviews with Jon Oliva, a single was sent to radio stations. They wouldn't touch it. A year later, the exact same single was sent out under the TSO moniker with Christmasy artwork and it becomes a hit.
"Optimistic innocence" What Christmas playlists are you listening to? "Have yourself a merry little Christmas" is actually saying "because it may be your last". In context, the play it's originally from, the person it's being sung to is in tears. "I'll be home for Christmas"... no you won't. "Blue Christmas" speaks for itself. Then there's the standard religious ones, real wrath of God stuff. I'd say about a third of Christmas songs market directly in Seasonal Annual Depression... or SAD... for a reason. "Happy Christmas (War is Over)" No, it's not. "Silver Bells, silver bells, it's Christmas time in the city". Ah, THOSE bells. The "help for the needy" bells.
I mean... so many of the most classic and iconic Christmas songs we talk about today came out between the '30s and '60s.. also known as that horrific span of The Great Depression, WWII and the Cold War. "Do You Hear what I Hear?" is more bittersweet, a song trying to call for gentleness and peace in the 60s when the threat of nuclear warfare was ramping up during The Cold War. Also, hate to be that person but I think I'd like to remind you that people can find joy in those songs if they want. Just because so many Christmas songs are like that (tm) doesn't mean they can't be happy, and can't bring joy to others.
It is the one Christmas song that really gets me into the mood of Christmas. It is hauntingly beautiful. India not know all about the history, but I knew it was a reinterpretation of a Ukrainian folk song. Thanks for the context.
For me I always associate this song with the musical Black Friday by Team StarKid. In the show they play just the first main melody of Carol of the Bells on nothing but the piano on loop in a very creepy way in connection to the show's main villain Wiggly. He is a Lovectaft/Cthulhu like being who's plan is to manipulate holiday mania to form a cult in his name. So a holiday song with a motif about death is very fitting.
Leontovych was one of thousands of Ukrainian intellectuals who, unfortunately, were executed by the russians. The struggle of the Ukrainian people continues to this day. Thank you for such a detailed research of this topic
@12tone I first heard it in Will Vinton's Claymation Christmas Celebration 1987. Performed by sentient bells striking themselves with hammers. It was always an unsettling song.
Carol of the Bells is also my favorite Christmas song. I know this around December 2022 when for some reason most of the channels I've followed who are in the Epic Orchestral niche seems to ALL output their Carol of the Bells. 2 even have previous carol of the bells rendition of their own years ago but still seems compelled to do Carol of the Bells that specific year and they don't really do the same cover twice for other christmas song which I find suspiscious. Now every time I hear it I'm wishing for the war to stop, counting how many Christmas has it been since the Russia Ukraine war.
Carol of the Bells? Meh. Carol of the Old Ones?! *Yes, please!* Look to the sky, way up on high There in the night stars are now right Eons have passed: now then at last Prison walls break, Old Ones awake! They will return: mankind will learn New kinds of fear when they are here They will reclaim all in their name Hopes turn to black when they come back Ignorant fools, mankind now rules Where they ruled then: it's theirs again
even better, Carol of the Bird! this is a more faithful translation of the lyrics in Ukrainian by Eileen, the TH-camr mentioned by 12Tone! Shchedryk-shchedryk, shchedrivochka Here flew a swallow from afar Started to sing lively and loud Asking the master to come out Come here, oh come, Master it's time In the sheepfold - wonders to find Your lovely sheep have given birth To little lambs of great worth All of your wares are very fine Coin you will have in a big pile If not the coin then the chaff You have a wife fair as a dove Shchedryk-shchedryk, shchedrivochka Here flew a swa---llow from afar!
I love carol of the bells because my school band always played it for our Christmas concert and it’s extremely fun to play (except for the run up, that part sucks)
I've loved your musical tuts ever since the first one I saw years ago. This one was informative and poignant on multiple levels. Thank you for posting it, and all your videos. I have been dragging myself kicking and screaming for years to an animated Christmas light display with FM broadcast music, and Carol of the Bells is one of my favorites, so naturally I had to watch this one. How do you manage to arrange such apropos imagery for these? Its amazing to watch them progress.
With it being December, I *did* wonder whether you would ever analyze a Christmas song, but I thought that was just a pipe dream! This is a welcome surprise!
Cast in Brozen has a very haunting version played on the carillon bells. Large bells just have a life of their own that no instrument can come close to.
My takeaway is that the audience of a content creator will be engaged if the content creator is, themselves, engaged. If you are having fun, we will have fun. If you are interested, we will be interested. Also, "did he hear what I hear?" ... I heard what you did there.
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I didn't know the background or (musical) connection to Dies Irae, but I've always thought Carol of the Bells to be hauntingly beautiful. My favourite version is Myuu's and Madame Macabree's one, but the TSO one is a close second.
My favorite version of this is the one by the Ray Coniff Singers. Definitely seems to lean into the dark vibes, particularly towards the end where it seems to turn into something that would fit more as the music for a horror movie.
Speaking of apocalyptic Carol of the Bells, the Lovecraftian Parody Carol of the Old Ones comes to mind. It makes alot more sense now why it works so well
This is my favorite Christmas song Carol of the Bells by the Mormon Tabernacle choir. We had it on tape when I was a kid. I am related by marriage to some Ukrainians it’s cool to find out the origin of this song.
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Some additional thoughts/corrections:
1) Honestly there's even more to this story that I wound up cutting for time/flow, but I'd recommend reading through some of the other histories if you really want that. They're all linked in the script doc in the description, but here's the main one I used: slate.com/news-and-politics/2019/12/carol-bells-shchedryk-ukraine-leontovych.html
2) I'd intended this to be more about the music itself but I wanted to start with some history and then the story got so interesting that it just became the whole video instead. There's a lot to say on a more music-analytical side, though, too. Maybe I'll make that video next year.
3) Is Mannheim Steamroller a metal band? Not really, but they're metal-adjacent, so for the purposes of the point I was making it didn't seem worth qualifying. Sorry if you care.
Not to mention Celtic Woman had covered the song, too. :)
You mentioned Mannheim Steamroller - did you mean to refer to TSO?
11:36 I think having "Carol Of the Bells" sung by the choir where it is... is actually a musical cue- this time for "Marley's coming!" "Why," you might ask? Just remember what Marley's motif is throughout the movie- a single iteration of *this* motif played straight, in other words, _as_ the Dies Irae! (Edit: you talk about *all* of this!)
And I also love both "metal-adjacent" groups' (i.e. TSO and Mannheim Steamroller) arrangements!
But bringing TSO up leads me to another question: was Pachelbel's Canon associated with Christmas *before* TSO? Besides their "Christmas Eve Sarajevo," that (their first, less rock-driven arrangement) is their most-streamed track on Spotify!
Thanks anyway for the Mannheim Steamroller shoutout! I grew up in Nebraska, less than an hour from Chip Davis's home in Omaha! (GBR!) Their Wikipedia page classifies them as “Neoclassical/New Age/Progressive Rock”; they released 6 “Fresh Aire” albums before their first Christmas album in 1984.
I'm Ukrainian and I was a bit apprehensive going into this video because so much of our culture seems to be misrepresented in the west (because usually the people spreading the information aren't educated on the subject), but this video turned out to be very thoughtful and very well researched. thank you from the bottom of my heart for sharing what you've learned with your big audience, it means a lot. and happy holidays!
Slava Ukraini
Slava Ukrani!
Stay safe Oz!
Slava Ukrainia! Slava heroim! 🇺🇦
I'm not Ukrainian but know that part of the world well. I've always tried to explain the history of the song to people. If they're still listening at the end I give them Oy u luzi chervona kalina as well.
Veselikh svyat, yakomoga bil'she. Mi z Vami.
I didn't expect 12tone to actually dig into Ukrainian history.
Once you start reading into it, you can't stop but also have to abandon any chance of making light-hearted video about Christmas.
man, I'm watching you for years. And you just got my biggest respect. Thanks for remembering the Ukrainian roots of Shchedryk - and the whole bloody story of our centuries long struggle against russian imperialism, even for keeping our national songs
It’s ok, you can have your Polish imperialism
I will be performing soon Schedryk in a choir, and you can't imagine, how people of all different ages and backgrounds love it all the same.
There is something magical about it, and I will never not love it with my dear passion. Rest in peace, Mykola Leontovich, and thank you for your work.
The hell are you talking about? Ukraine is as Russian as Delaware is American, or Rome is Italian. Pretending otherwise just leads to more "struggle".
Maybe if y'all stopped worshipping Bandera, you might not have lost all your young men
Ukraine should go back to the Northmen... you know the Dutch... the "Vikings". That would solve everything.
@@Klaevin Huh, I guess Russia's tests with isolating their internet from the rest of the world failed.
The Trans-Siberian Orchestra interpretation (Christmas Eve/Sarajevo 12/24)) is taken from the ending of Savatage's "Dead Winter Dead" album (TSO is just a repackaging of Savatage), a concept album that takes place in Yugoslavia from the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1990 to the Yugoslav Wars in 1994. The piece represents a cellist playing Christmas carols in the ruins of the city center (based on the story of Vedran Smailović, who would play Albinondi's Adagio in Dm every night to honor the dead), and is killed on Christmas Eve during an artillery strike. That is why it is so bombastic and explosive.
THANK YOU! I always remembered a dark story along with this song and could never find it.
WOW, I had no idea. That's so sad, and yet so beautiful, all at the same time. I will think of this every time I hear that version from now on.
@@mariebelladonna437 Vedran Smailović is still alive (at the time of this comment), but the character in the album is killed. Dead Winter Dead is an amazing album, but Savatage completely reinvented themselves after Christmas Eve/Sarajevo 12/24 started getting radio play. A lot of radio play.
@@Kylora2112 I can hear "Adagio in Dm" in Sarajevo!
10:30 When you pointed out that connection, I actually silently screamed- THAT’S why I feel that way listening to it! Man, the Dies Irae is so strong.
It's over... and over... and over!
I mean also it's straight up minor, and it features the "lament bass" descending movement. Even without the technical use of the Dies Irae, it would sound ominous as shit
I had the exact same thought!
@@althealligator1467all my favorite “Xmas carols” are minor keys or minor-sounding modes. Oh Come Oh Come Emmanuel is another one, with cheery lyrics like “Ransom captive Israel, which mourns in lonely exile here”. And Coventry Carol, which is singing about Herod’s supposed murder of the innocents (all the 2 year old boys) in an attempt to stop the Christ from eventually subverting the rule of Rome. These all sounded DIFFERENT to my ears, and even though I was never a goth or anything like it, I just really liked the sound.
@@DawnDavidson I know, there is something fascinating about that contrast
A million years ago, just after I had graduated high school, I returned to the annual winter performance of my choir. There was a tradition at the time of all the alumni coming to do Carol of the Bells with the rest of the choir. The secret-not-secret goal of all the alumni was to push the tempo as fast as possible because it made our choir director absolutely apoplectic with rage. Good times.
Yes! It’s so much better in 1! 😂 I wonder if every school chorus everywhere has sooner or later tried the increasing tempo version of this song, just to see how fast you could get it before falling apart? Good times indeed!
@@DawnDavidson New goals for the holiday season!
I got to sing this in high school chorus, but one time the men's quartet and the women's trio had a performance, and, after our respective songs, we ended up doing an impromptu rendition of Carol of the Bells but with only one of us on each part and it was truly magical, being only teenagers and with nobody who told us to do it, we just went for it and nailed it.
Very cool. My kid just got done playing a (simplified) version in middle school band. I would love to see them revisit it next year in collaboration with the choir. Even cooler, but probably too much to ask for middle schoolers, and would be to play it in the spring with a bit of intro about the folk music origin and the Ukrainian (or direct English translation) lyrics.
“Feels like cheating”
*draws Patriots logo*
HAHAHAHAHAHHAHAA
Non-pats fans still malding and we're not even on top anymore lmao.
@@TheR00ndar malding? spy gate was proven true
@@TheR00ndar Folks, is it malding to reference a well-known story as shorthand?
Just like "It would be irresponsible..." and he draws Joe Camel.
@@lucashagen4383 Deflate Gate reference- now I get it!
12:10
Said the TH-camr to the Star Wars guy,
Do you hear what I hear?
A bar, a bar, signifying dread,
that you play when somebody's dead
That you play when somebody's dead
This is great
Nice! I was (also) wondering if it was deliberate.
What an amazing kaleidoscope of culture that makes a verse like this so perfect 🎯
Actually, that was 2 bars
Holy shit, accurate prosody in parody lyrics! That was fing great
This was always my favorite part of the midnight church service as a kid. The choir would stand just outside the doors and sing it a capella, it always felt spooky and exciting. It’s always been one of my favorites to hear especially when sung a capella.
I was very excited when I saw this video. With how much care and research you put into your other videos I was hopeful you would do Щедрик justice. You showed such respect and appreciation for Mykola and thoughtfully represented Ukrianian culture history. I thought I already knew everything regarding Щедрик and Carol of the Bells but you taught me something new about modern usage. Excellent video.
Less than fun fact: the Cheka was founded Dec 20, 1917, 107 years to the day before this video was released. Interesting that it was brought up. I had mentioned it in my morning work meeting today, and then 12tone(one of the best music youtube creators) talks about one of their missions on my lunch break. What a strange coincidence.
Great video by the way. Always one of my favorites. That and Veni Veni Emanuel.
Me too, with Veni Veni Emmanuel! I loved the minor key carols! Do you like Coventry Carol, too? I do. That’s another minor key one.
It doesn't remotely surprise me that a song created with inspiration from the rites of spring is so succinctly tied to a musical motif associated with death. Great video once again. Have a good holiday and happy new year.
5:47 small correction. Poland wasn't a notable backer of Ukraine, at least initially. First of all, independent Ukraine predates independent Poland. Ukraine got it in separate brest litovsk treaty, poland got it after Versailles year later. So the most notable backer of the Ukrainian state was Germany, and to less extent, Austria
Secondly, Poland was claiming and controlling most of western Ukraine, which tried to fight for its own independence but was overwhelmed.
Poland did help Ukraine one time after ww1 ended to fight the soviets, but they were losing, Ukraine was swept completely, and Poland had to fight for itself and miraculously succeded Through all of that, the Entente actually was against Ukraine in whatever form, backing the whites and occupying Ukrainian ports.
I'll also say on the topic of the melody sounding "dark" or "ominous", I've certainly always felt like it sounded "dark" thematically. IMO, at least from a Western musical cultural context, a descending minor third in any circumstance is melancholic. It's either bittersweet, threatening, depressive, etc. The first example that comes to mind is Radiohead's "How to Disappear Completely" has very prominent descending minor-third melodic fragments/motifs.
Another step down song I can recall is MCR's welcome to the black parade
My favorite Christmas song: "Christmas Wrapping" by the Waitresses. IMHO, it has the best, most absolutely funky, bass lines in all of Christmasdom.
I adore "Christmas Wrapping". I have a kink for people who resist the good cheer being foisted upon us.
Carol of the Bells sounds joyful and light to you guys? Never in my life have I not perceived it as dark and ominous and nightly but whimsical, and it's probably the first ever "use" of the Dies Irae I ever heard.
What a thing to learn.. given the current war, great info to share and learn of a Ukrainian folk song turned Christmas song. As for me with Christmas songs... rarely listen to anything but I might throw on the Nutcracker and/or Handel's MESSIAH which I've had the pleasure of seeing my local orchestra play.
Holy shit. You just unlocked something in my brain. I've also always felt like Carol of the Bells had a sorta...darker, melancholic sound to it, but couldn't place why. DIES IRAE! I can't believe I never noticed that before! I'm pretty familiar with the dies irae, we sang Mozart's Dies Irae at state when I was in choir in high school. How could I have missed that!?
Me too! That blew my mind, this has always been my favorite carol and yet, I never noticed the Dies Irae connection either.
I've long been a bit weirded out by the fact that most of my favorite Christmas songs are the ones in minor keys, and this one is high on the list.
This was the first time I've heard one of your videos. My friends and I just saw Trans Siberian Orchestra and were talking about how dark and melancholy it sounded for being a happy Christmas song. Now I'm kicking myself for not catching the dias eire since I watched a whole video of how it was used in the Frozen soundtrack.
I'll definitely be watching more of your stuff.
@@michaellavella2377 "AH-ah-AH-ahhh...."
You found a rabbit hole, and I thank you for doing it.
4:59 drawing the Duolingo bird as the ethnologist was a power move
VoicePlay's bass singer, Geoff Castellucci, released a solo version of "Carol of the Bells" two weeks ago. It looks like it should reach 1 million TH-cam views before the end of the month. It's an impressive and powerful arrangement. Be sure to read the video description credits. Wow!
th-cam.com/video/0bqiBpRvEwc/w-d-xo.html
Thank you for the link. That was amazing.
@@lorisewsstuff1607 Geoff and the acapella group, VoicePlay, that he is a founding member of are impressive and 100% indie so not nearly as well known as they deserve to be. The guys have learned to do most things all by themselves. Before the pandemic shutdown, they toured extensively. Once everything shut down they turned to studio work. The three older guys in VoicePlay are married with young children at home so they decided not to go back on the road and focus on monthly TH-cam releases. That's also when Geoff started posting music videos to his solo channel (Kathy made him, bless her!).
If you noticed the video description of "Carol of the Bells," Geoff and his wife did it all except for the final sound mix, which always goes to Ed Boyer. They filmed the day before Thanksgiving, Geoff "edited like crazy" then released it to his patrons three days later.
Geoff does all of the layered vocals and all of the instrumentation on his solo channel, which isn't acapella, of course. It's mindblowing (as is his 5-octave vocal range...3 octaves in full chest voice).
I didn't know any of this except that it was a "Ukranian Christmas Song". Thanks for this whole video!
I always took it as a dark side of winter, because it is literally the only song I can think of that plays so much in a minor key. I think of other Christmas songs and they are all about being warm and cozy bundled up enjoying the snow. Maybe a nice cup of cocoa. This evokes a feeling of being cold and not being able to get warm. In my list of Christmas songs I’m not even sure it ranks. However this is the content I like and I now look at it differently after watching. It’s maybe not going to be my favorite but I’ll listen to it in a new context.
I don't know if you're religious or not but I am Lutheran and have always been fond of the Advent season. It is very much overshadowed by the Christmas season, and like, I get it people want to celebrate while they prepare and then they're all Christmased out by the time the religious Christmas season (aka the 12 days of Christmas from Dec 25-Jan 5) takes place.
But Advent is that anxious and somewhat somber period of waiting before Christmas and there are some great songs about waiting that I just love.
"I Wonder as I Wander" is a hauntingly beautiful Advent song that will never make it to our local malls or pop Christmas playlists but is also one of my absolute favorites.
I've been ELCA Lutheran my whole life!
Carol of the Bells is, regardless of how closely it's tied to Christmas, one of the most musically malleable and historically interesting songs tied to the holidays, and I love it because of that malleability for writing/composing with. Certified banger.
My home town of Corvallis, Oregon had the Sister City of Uzhorod, Ukraine. My church was once fortunate enough to host that city's choir Cantus on a local tour. Of course, one of the songs they sang was Shchedryk. Hopefully they are doing as well as they can in these evil times.
I feel like I called many of the reference points for movies! I'm glad I was right! This has been super enlightening because this too is my favorite Christmas song. Its so good! I don't see how anyone can see this song as joyful though. It's always felt dark to me. But cool! Love this!
The strange coincidence of Dies Irae matching Shchedryk's hopeful spring melody with it's descending chord structure make it an ideal Christmas song.
Our celebrations at this time of year - Christmas, Yule and the New Year are about hopeful new beginnings that replace the old. The old ways die but instead of mourning we look to the new testament, the revival of nature and new start for ourselves.
I know this song as Ruby Sunday's song. Before I heard it used in Doctor Who, I don't think I had heard it before. This increased my knowledge about it immensely.
I had no idea the modern version of Carol of the Bells was made so recently. Wow!
Also, agreed that Carol of the Bells is kinda creepy/apocalyptic. It works great in christmas horror films, since it has dies irae in it.
Great video. You let the tale take you where it needed to go, and that's one of the essences of something you do well; great storytelling. gj and happy holidays.
If you're looking for a Christmas piece with a darker edge, try Casting Crowns "I Heard the Bells on Christmas Day." It reflects the original poem very well.
I listened to mostly contemporary Christian music throughout college, but since I moved to Kansas 19 1/2 years ago, I've mostly switched to Classical played on Kansas Public Radio. Last night when I was out, since All Things Considered is on KPR from 3-7, I switched the car radio to Family Life Radio, & that Casting Crowns song came on!! I CRANKED the volume WAY UP!
FINALLY someone aknowledging and discussing the similarity between the melodies of Shchedryk and the Dies Irae! Thank you!
For what it's worth, I suspect the song Making Christmas also plays on the ambiguity, since it is about the inhabitants of Halloween pulling together their morbid skills to prepare their own version of Christmas.
@@lcatalamusic And the Dies Irae hiding in plain sight is the Halloween side of "Making Christmas," I guess.
Fascinating! Thank you so much for putting the time and love into researching this classic.
0:38 Not the patriots logo im WEAK 😂😂
Also, sp glad you included the mention of Sabaton. Many people never heard "Cristmas Truce" and it is criminally underrated
I think I read about the origins of this song on tumblr, thank you so much for sharing your in-depth research and analysis and deepening my appreciation of this fantastic song ❤
I'm a connoisseur of Christmas, especially the music and including this song. I always found it curious how certain songs which were about a joyous season with joyous lyrics could somehow end up in minor keys. I suppose that was the giveaway that there was something more here. TSO certainly does capture some of the serious meaning as the backdrop of their version of this song is in fact a city ravaged by war. Excellent video 12tone!
It is in fact an absolute banger regardless of what it is about
I've always felt the Carol of the Bells was a very haunting song. I've never thought of it as joyous and light.
thank you for putting me in the know on my favorite Christmas carol. Merry Christmas!
This has been one of my favourite Christmas carols ever since I first heard it growing up. I knew about the Ukrainian folk song it came from but this video was great in providing so much more information and background. And I never thought about the whole Dies Irae connection! Like you that's probably a big part of why I've loved it and now I know thanks to this video!
This has been my favorite Christmas song since i can remember. Its ethereal and just hits the magic spot in the heart.
It's fantastic and one of my favourites too!
The cthulu based lovecraftian cover version 'Carol of the old ones' is my antidote to xmas. Look for 'A very scary solstice' and the seaquel 'An even scarier solstice' for loads more similar covers
Thank you so much for this deep analysis. I've always wondered about this myself.
“Something completely different” *draws Monty Python foot* 😎
Carol of the Bells has always spooked me. Lovely, really lovely, but spooky. I think this is to a large extent due to Williams' use in Home Alone which is likely where I first heard it. Great video, as always. Thanks Cory.
This is my favorite holiday song, I'm glad you talked about the history.
Wow. Spectacularly well done video. I knew a little bit about where it came from, but the way you tell the tale is epic. Thank you so much.
This is one of my favorite of all the videos you've made! Thank you
What an awesome video; I love it when researching something innocuous turns up a good old rabbit hole to fall down! Thanks for all your great content, and happy whatever to you and yours!
My favorite Christmas carols are the older, spookier sounding ones. The pagan roots of Christmas were a much spookier time.
Someone needs to make an entire Saturnalia/Druid Christmas album. What kind of songs would have been composed if Jesus was a Roman or Celtic myth?
There isn't a "pagan roots of Christmas". If anything, paganism stole from Christianity. It's your kind of false propaganda that keeps these lies going. Learn some real history and not this click bate demonstrably false history.
Same with me!
And for younger watchers, a slightly happier version of Dies Irae is sung by AURORA in... Frozen 2.
It’s in the original Frozen, also, at the end of the Reprise of “For the First Time in Forever”, after Anna’s heart is struck by Elsa’s magic.
one of the few christmas songs I love
Some of my favorite Christmas songs are Sabaton's "Christmas Truce," Theocracy's "Wynter Fever," and Demon Hunter's "The Wind." Psychostick also has some funny Christmas parodies. Like Weird Al style, but metal.
Speaking of Weird Al, I’ve always been quite fond of his (original song) Christmas At Ground Zero. Suitably apocalyptic!
“I’ll be home for Christmas” is pretty interesting harmonically. There’s lots of great arrangements.
Very cool. Thanks for this mind blowing tour of this musical landscape. Have a wonderful Holiday and New Year.
12:12 ringing through the sky, shepherd boy
Usually these videos go deep into musical theory so far outside my ken that I go cross-eyed. But this one was a bunch of history and interesting John Williams tidbits that were very digestible with music bits that were simple enough for my musical education to get the gist of. Neat!
You don't need Savatage's side project to feel menaced by Carol of the Bells. That thing terrifies me.
"Ask not for whom the bell tolls. It tolls for thee." Is always tied to this song in my head.
If anyone is interested in checking out more old Ukrainian winter songs, please check out "Rozkoliada" from the ensemble KURBASY - it's a whole concert recorded with treats for the ears in the renditions they perform of old carols!
I literally rewatched Home Alone a couple of days ago and noticed both the Dies Irae motif at the beginning for the first time anf the cool arrangement around Carol of the Bells at the end but I didn't make the connection between the two until you started building the groundwork for doing so in the video. At the time it also solidified the song as one of the few I truly enjoy listening to in the genre and probably my favourite, so I was pleasantly surprised to see 12Tone picking it as its last song to analyse it for 2024 (fun coincidences!). I loved discovering the historical and political background of it, which brings even more weight to its meaning and to me increases its importance especially in these troubled times.
This is a relatively new discovery for me in the UK. It is now heard every Christmas, but wasn't that common twenty years ago. I have always thought it sounded weird - not dark necessarily - but not very Christian. I genuinely thought it was from one of the Harry Potter soundtracks for a while. It was a revelation to learn the true history thank you for the work. and thanks to the people of Ukraine for showing the world what is right and what must be fought for.
“Carol of the Bells” is my favorite “Christmas” song… or maybe the only one that doesn’t make me want to die. It’s definitely a “banger”, though. I’ve always loved it.
This is amazing. I was literally pondering the origins of this piece last week. I didn't have the time to do the research that day and it slipped from my mind. Thank you so much for this one! This is truly fascinating.
Those descending tones! That's what makes it feel so ominous for me; I can't score it out in a youtube comment, but I was expecting those highlighted descending tones to come up as part of why it feels so ominous.
Thank you for explaining the whys of that ominous feeling throughout the Carol of the Bells, I just listened to a version that (to my uneducated ears) sounded so beautiful, and from beginning to end I had that weird feeling of "epic battle" while having much less "Christmas feelings" than expected. The fact that it's a "low bass singer version" (Geoff Castellucci) may have helped... 😅.
I will put the link to this video in a comment about the low bass singer's video. I believe the audience will find this very interesting. 🙂
Thank you again. Merry Everything and a Happy always! 🙂
Geoff is amazing! Now I need to go listen to his version again. 😊
Thanks 12! This was awesome! I love your format, and you're phenomenally talented! God Bless!
Now every time I listen to Carol Of The Bells I’ll think about the war 😟. At least it will have more meaning now 😕
One quibble about TSO. Technically, that version of the song is Savatage. It was on the '95 Dead Winter Dead album. Per interviews with Jon Oliva, a single was sent to radio stations. They wouldn't touch it. A year later, the exact same single was sent out under the TSO moniker with Christmasy artwork and it becomes a hit.
"Optimistic innocence" What Christmas playlists are you listening to? "Have yourself a merry little Christmas" is actually saying "because it may be your last". In context, the play it's originally from, the person it's being sung to is in tears. "I'll be home for Christmas"... no you won't. "Blue Christmas" speaks for itself. Then there's the standard religious ones, real wrath of God stuff.
I'd say about a third of Christmas songs market directly in Seasonal Annual Depression... or SAD... for a reason. "Happy Christmas (War is Over)" No, it's not.
"Silver Bells, silver bells, it's Christmas time in the city". Ah, THOSE bells. The "help for the needy" bells.
I mean... so many of the most classic and iconic Christmas songs we talk about today came out between the '30s and '60s.. also known as that horrific span of The Great Depression, WWII and the Cold War. "Do You Hear what I Hear?" is more bittersweet, a song trying to call for gentleness and peace in the 60s when the threat of nuclear warfare was ramping up during The Cold War.
Also, hate to be that person but I think I'd like to remind you that people can find joy in those songs if they want. Just because so many Christmas songs are like that (tm) doesn't mean they can't be happy, and can't bring joy to others.
It is the one Christmas song that really gets me into the mood of Christmas. It is hauntingly beautiful. India not know all about the history, but I knew it was a reinterpretation of a Ukrainian folk song. Thanks for the context.
For me I always associate this song with the musical Black Friday by Team StarKid. In the show they play just the first main melody of Carol of the Bells on nothing but the piano on loop in a very creepy way in connection to the show's main villain Wiggly. He is a Lovectaft/Cthulhu like being who's plan is to manipulate holiday mania to form a cult in his name. So a holiday song with a motif about death is very fitting.
I enjoy Christmas music. A lot of the songs are nice and they make you feel good.
Leontovych was one of thousands of Ukrainian intellectuals who, unfortunately, were executed by the russians. The struggle of the Ukrainian people continues to this day. Thank you for such a detailed research of this topic
Stop blaming "Russians" as a people. It is Marxism, Socialism, Communism that is the problem. That is the evil "imperialism" you attck.
Fantastic video. I had no idea!
@12tone I first heard it in Will Vinton's Claymation Christmas Celebration 1987. Performed by sentient bells striking themselves with hammers. It was always an unsettling song.
Carol of the Bells is also my favorite Christmas song. I know this around December 2022 when for some reason most of the channels I've followed who are in the Epic Orchestral niche seems to ALL output their Carol of the Bells. 2 even have previous carol of the bells rendition of their own years ago but still seems compelled to do Carol of the Bells that specific year and they don't really do the same cover twice for other christmas song which I find suspiscious. Now every time I hear it I'm wishing for the war to stop, counting how many Christmas has it been since the Russia Ukraine war.
Carol of the Bells? Meh.
Carol of the Old Ones?! *Yes, please!*
Look to the sky, way up on high
There in the night stars are now right
Eons have passed: now then at last
Prison walls break, Old Ones awake!
They will return: mankind will learn
New kinds of fear when they are here
They will reclaim all in their name
Hopes turn to black when they come back
Ignorant fools, mankind now rules
Where they ruled then: it's theirs again
even better, Carol of the Bird!
this is a more faithful translation of the lyrics in Ukrainian by Eileen, the TH-camr mentioned by 12Tone!
Shchedryk-shchedryk, shchedrivochka
Here flew a swallow from afar
Started to sing lively and loud
Asking the master to come out
Come here, oh come, Master it's time
In the sheepfold - wonders to find
Your lovely sheep have given birth
To little lambs of great worth
All of your wares are very fine
Coin you will have in a big pile
If not the coin then the chaff
You have a wife fair as a dove
Shchedryk-shchedryk, shchedrivochka
Here flew a swa---llow from afar!
Love the Carol of the Old Ones!
Thank you 🙏 I knew from the first few bars I’d heard in films but that’s an amazing story. Dies Irae on Christmas Day is delicious thank you! 🖤🌲🎁🎄🖤
I love carol of the bells because my school band always played it for our Christmas concert and it’s extremely fun to play (except for the run up, that part sucks)
I've loved your musical tuts ever since the first one I saw years ago. This one was informative and poignant on multiple levels. Thank you for posting it, and all your videos. I have been dragging myself kicking and screaming for years to an animated Christmas light display with FM broadcast music, and Carol of the Bells is one of my favorites, so naturally I had to watch this one. How do you manage to arrange such apropos imagery for these? Its amazing to watch them progress.
With it being December, I *did* wonder whether you would ever analyze a Christmas song, but I thought that was just a pipe dream! This is a welcome surprise!
Cast in Brozen has a very haunting version played on the carillon bells. Large bells just have a life of their own that no instrument can come close to.
literally got chills when you mentioned dies irae, though maybe it was just the winter cold
9:52 Christmas Eve/Sarajevo 12/24 is also inspired by the Bosnian War, which explains the darker side of it. It's also my favorite Christmas song
My takeaway is that the audience of a content creator will be engaged if the content creator is, themselves, engaged. If you are having fun, we will have fun. If you are interested, we will be interested.
Also, "did he hear what I hear?" ... I heard what you did there.
I didn't know the background or (musical) connection to Dies Irae, but I've always thought Carol of the Bells to be hauntingly beautiful. My favourite version is Myuu's and Madame Macabree's one, but the TSO one is a close second.
I played trumpet in high school and Carol of the Bells was my favorite piece that we ever played, also not being a huge fan of Christmas music.
I learned some of this the year they were invaded. This is my all time favorite.
My favorite version of this is the one by the Ray Coniff Singers. Definitely seems to lean into the dark vibes, particularly towards the end where it seems to turn into something that would fit more as the music for a horror movie.
It is now and always has been the most metal christmas song
love this channel!!
Knowing the history of the melody makes that whole "Ding, Fries are Done" meme from the internet stone age even weirder than it already was.
This is awesome! Thank you!!!
Speaking of apocalyptic Carol of the Bells, the Lovecraftian Parody Carol of the Old Ones comes to mind. It makes alot more sense now why it works so well
I always thought this song was too good to be a Christmas song
This is my favorite Christmas song Carol of the Bells by the Mormon Tabernacle choir. We had it on tape when I was a kid. I am related by marriage to some Ukrainians it’s cool to find out the origin of this song.