Koliadka
are traditional usually sung in Eastern Slavic, Central Europe and Eastern European countries during the Christmas holiday season. It is believed that everything sung about will come true.
History
Koliadka have been sung since pre-Christian times in Kievan Rus'. Those songs were used with ritual purposes. In early times, koliadkas expressed ancient people's ideas about creation, natural phenomena, and the structure of the world. With the advent of Christianity, the content of koliadkas began to acquire the relevant religious meaning and features.
Now koliadkas are mostly Christmas carols, which tell of the birth of Jesus Christ and biblical stories that happened in connection with the event. Heathen roots are still there.
In modern culture
Serbians and
Montenegrins sing koliadkas dedicated to Saint Nicholas in their churches.
Slovaks,
Czechs and sometimes
Belarusians sing koliadkas not only on Saint Nicholas Day (which they celebrate on December 6),
but on Saint Stephen Day (December 26) too.
Ukrainians sing koliadkas and on Saint Nicholas Day (December 6) and on Christmas Eve (December 24).
Koliadkas are also sung in countries where big diasporas are present, including Ukrainians which live in Canada.
Koliadkas dedicated to saints
There are several koliadkas which are dedicated to Saint Nicholas in Ukraine. Among them: "Ой, хто, хто Миколая любить" ("
Oh, who Loves Saint Nicholas"),
"Ходить по землі Святий Миколай" ("
Saint Nicholas Walks Around The World"),
"Миколай, Миколай ти до нас завітай!" (
Nicholas, Nicholas, Come To Visit Us!).
"The Little Swallow"
Ukrainian "Щедрик" ("
Shchedryk"), known in English as "The Little Swallow", is a famous folk song that has pre-Christian roots. The song was arranged by the Ukrainian
composer and teacher Mykola Leontovych in 1916. "Shchedryk" was later adapted as an English
Christmas carol, "Carol of the Bells", by popular American composer, educator, and choral conductor of
Ukrainians ethnic origin Peter J. Wilhousky following a performance of the original song by Alexander Koshetz's Ukrainian National Chorus at
Carnegie Hall on October 5, 1921. Peter J. Wilhousky copyrighted and published his new
lyrics (which were not based on the Ukrainian lyrics) in 1936.
Conceptually, Ukrainian lyrics of this song meets the definition of schedrivka (Malanka song) while English content of "Carol of the Bells" indicates it as koliadka (Christmas song).
On December 9, 2016, Georgian-born British singer Katie Melua and The Gori Women's Choir (which is conducted by Teona Tsiramua) sang original Ukrainian "Shchedryk" on BBC.
See also
-
Shchedryk (song)
-
Koliada
-
Koledari
-
List of Christmas carols
-
Ukrainian folk music
Notes
