Song of the Day 12/20: Cast in Bronze, “Carol of the Bells”

If the “Carol of the Bells” doesn’t sound like a Christmas carol, it might be because it wasn’t at first. It was a Ukrainian New Year’s song back when Ukrainians celebrated the New Year in April. When the country adopted the Gregorian calendar, with New Year’s Day in January, the tune switched seasons.

Maybe because the original folk tune was in Ukrainian, there are four (4) different sets of English lyrics. They all take their cue from Peter Wilhousky, an American composer of Ukrainian origin who wrote the first English translation (it’s a rather loose translation – the Ukrainian lyrics to “Shchedryk” are about a swallow that flies into the kitchen). He thought the mdelody reminded him of handbells.

But who needs lyrics? The carol sounds just as good as an instrumental, and what better instrument than one made up of bells, the carillon? The song sounds so good on bells because it’s in a minor key. Unlike stringed instruments, a bell’s harmonics include a minor third, so major-key songs can sound out of tune but minor-key compositions sound great.

Delaware has a carillon at Nemours, but it isn’t played manually, so it’s not listed among the 180 or so carillons in the United States; the one at Longwood Gardens in Kennett Square is. An instrument must have 23 bells to qualify as a carillon. Anything with fewer is called a chime.

There are also a few mobile carillons, like the one in this video. They don’t move easily – some of the biggest bells weigh two tons or more, and playing them with feet and fists looks like vigorous exercise. Cast in Bronze spends most of its time in Florida, where it never feels like Christmas even on Dec. 25.