British choir sings 'Shchedryk' Daily Mail

The choir of the St. George's Chapel performed Shchedryk, otherwise known as Carol of the Bells, the beloved classic Christmas mastepiece. The performance took place at Windsor Castle in England, the press office of the British royal family reported.

Earlier this year, the choir reeatedly performed for Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II and other members of the royal family - for one, during the wedding ceremony of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle in May.

The choir members are the boys aged from 8 to 13. All of them are the students of St. George's school.

Shchedryk is a Ukrainian shchedrivka, or New Year's carol. It was arranged by composer and teacher Mykola Leontovych in 1916, and tells a story of a swallow flying into a household to sing of wealth that will come with the following spring. "Shchedryk" was originally sung on the night of January 13, New Year's Eve in the Julian Calendar (December 31 Old Style), which is Shchedry Vechir. Early performances of the piece were made by students at Kyiv University.

"Shchedryk" was later adapted as an English Christmas carol, "Carol of the Bells", by Peter J. Wilhousky following a performance of the original song by Oleksandr Koshytz's Ukrainian National Chorus at Carnegie Hall on October 5, 1921. Wilhousky copyrighted and published his new lyrics (which were not based on the Ukrainian lyrics) in 1936, and the song became popular in the United States, where it became strongly associated with Christmas.