Shchedryk (song)

"Shchedryk" (Щедрик, from Ukrainian: Щедрий вечiр, lit. 'Bountiful Evening') is a Ukrainian 'shchedrivka', or New Year celebration song, known in English as "The Little Swallow". The song tells a story of a swallow flying into a household at new year to sing of the wealth that will come with the following spring. "Shchedryk" was sung during koliada on the night of 31 December, New Year's Eve in the Julian calendar (13 January in the Gregorian Calendar), known in Ukraine as Malanka. The song was arranged by the Ukrainian composer Mykola Leontovych between 1901 and 1919 with early performances of the piece being performed by students at Kyiv University.

It was made into a Christmas carol, "Carol of the Bells", by the American composer and educator Peter J. Wilhousky. Following a performance of Leontovych's composition by Alexander Koshetz's Ukrainian National Chorus at Carnegie Hall on 5 October, 1922, Wilhousky published his own lyrics for the melody and secured a copyright on his lyrics in 1936. The music has since become strongly associated with Christmas.