Try something new this holiday season with this selected collection of ancient and modern songs
From: Euromaiden Press BY ALYA SHANDRA
In Ukraine, the Christmas season is a time full of music – in the Ukrainian tradition, teams of carolers start visiting their neighbors on Christmas Eve, 24 December, singing songs glorifying the birth of Christ intermingled with pagan motives, reaching prehistoric times. On 1 January, the Old New Year or St.Basil’s, bountiful shchedrivka songs (the most famous of which you can hear in Carol of the Bells) are added to the holiday mix, and yet other carols appear in the repertoire on 6 January, when Christian churches mark Epiphany—or up till 19 January, if they still go by the old calendary.
To this day, the tradition of Christmas caroling, which lasts up to 40 days in some regions of Ukraine, opens a door into a reality connecting past generations with those of today, heavens with the earth, and in which the mundane gives way to festivity for old and young.
Here we offer a (by no means exhaustive) selection of our favorite Ukrainian Christmas music, all based on the Ukrainian caroling tradition. Some songs preserve the authentic tradition, some modernize it beyond recognition. All of them are guaranteed to add an unconventional touch to your Christmas celebrations.
Note: this is an updated version of an article originally published in 2017; it now includes new songs.
1. Pikkardiyska Tertsiya: Dobryi vechir tobi, pane hospodariu (Good evening to you, dear master of the house)
The #1 carol of the Ukrainian Christmas season, Dobryi vechir tobi is known by young and old.
Perhaps its popularity can be explained by its lyrics, which are perfect for an opening greeting of carolers, who bring good tidings to the homemaster: he will be visited by three holidays, Christmas, St.Basil’s (or Old New Year), and Vodokhreshcha, or Epiphany. All the earth should rejoice, and prepare for the upcoming feast with tablecloths of tapestries and cakes of spring wheat: the Son of God is born.
Voice of Ukraine 