There’s a Ukrainian folksong that you know. Except that you don’t know that it’s Ukrainian, and a folksong. The enchanting music that became known to the world as “Carol of the Bells” from the pen of Peter J. Wilhousky was actually composed by Ukrainian composer Mykola Leontovych in 1904, based on a Ukrainian folk song.
Peter J. Wilhousky made his arrangement following a performance of the original song by Oleksandr Koschyts’ Ukrainian National Chorus at Carnegie Hall on 5 October 1921. The tune became extremely popular and has been arranged for and covered by many different genres. Here is an arrangement from the US group Pentatonix:
