The song was originally a Ukrainian folk song composed by Mykola Leontovich in 1916. It tells the story of a swallow flying into a household proclaiming the bountiful year that they will have. (we need a bountiful year!) It was traditionally sang to celebrate the New Year.
The Carol of the Bells lyrics were added to the original folk music from the Ukraine by Peter Wilhousky almost a decade later in 1936.
When performed by the Bell Choir and the Parish Choir, "Carol of the Bells" usually begins quietly, and grows louder and louder as each voice is added, and at the end fades to a pianissimo.
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