A facsimile of Mykola Leontovych’s manuscript of Shchedryk is now on display in one of the world’s most prestigious concert venues, Carnegie Hall in New York. The sheet music is located in the Composers Gallery, a memorial corridor space next to the entrance to the central hall of the Isaac Stern Auditorium.
The high-quality facsimile of the manuscript was recently donated to the Ukrainian Institute as a symbol of the historical continuity of Ukrainian music on this stage — from the North American premiere of the work in 1922 to Ukraine’s contemporary cultural diplomacy. It was after its first performance in the United States that the melody gained worldwide popularity and later became known as the Christmas hymn Carol of the Bells.
“The world premiere of the world-famous ‘Shchedryk’ took place on 29 December 1916 in the building of the present-day National Philharmonic of Ukraine. Between 1919 and 1921, the piece was performed abroad during the European tour of the Ukrainian Republican Capella under the direction of Oleksandr Koshyts. On 5 October 1922, ‘Shchedryk’ was performed at Carnegie Hall for the first time, and for the second time on 18 June 1990 by the Dudaryk Choir. The piece originates from archaic, pre-Christian folklore and is based on the Volyn version of the carol from Polissya. Despite its apparent simplicity, Leontovych rewrote ‘Shchedryk’ five times, and time proved the perfection of the form he ultimately found,” said Lyubov Morozova, programme manager of the Music Department at the Ukrainian Institute.
The Ukrainian Institute and Carnegie Hall have been collaborating since 2022. At that time, the hall hosted the Notes from Ukraine concert, dedicated to the centenary of the American premiere of Shchedryk. The event was sold out, with 2,800 seats. Martin Scorsese and Vera Farmiga hosted the evening, and the Shchedryk children’s choir travelled from Kyiv to New York especially for the occasion.