Nothing ushers in the Christmas season quite like its songs. You spend eleven months stressing over life, and a pandemic, when out of nowhere, a song you know and love starts playing.
And people just start smiling. We’ve all got our favorites. Traditional or modern, they all do the same job of waking up those cold hearts.
How about a new take on a classic?
Peter Hollens has been singing a cappella since 1999 and is a regular on YouTube, releasing videos every so often hence his over 2.6 million subscribers. He’s got over a billion views for all his content.
Here he is with “Carol of the bells“, and Peter is joined by 300 singers.
Hollens is so good that he has worked with other talents, all featured on his channel. People like David Archuleta, Jackie Evancho, and the group Home Free have collaborated with the a cappella master.
Now since it’s a cappella, Peter needed others to cover for the background “instruments”. So why not have more of himself do those parts? More Peters walk in then as he walks out, a choir joins him to fill the bass line.
They are BYU’s Vocal Point and the BYU Men’s Chorus.
The male dominated group belts out the instrumental sounds and lyrics in perfect harmony, giving a fresh take on a classic hymn. And they go ding-dong, ding-dong,
“Hark how the bells
Sweet silver bells
All seem to say
Throw cares away”
And it gets even better.
It’s a symphony!
“Christmas is here
Bringing good cheer
To young and old
Meek and the bold”
Considering the song had nothing to do with Christmas originally, the Ukrainian folk song found it’s way into the mind of Ukrainian composer Mykola Leontovich who was commissioned by a choir director by the name of Oleksander Koshyts.
Koshyts wanted a song based on Ukrainian folk melodies for a Christmas concert. The original song was about the coming of spring after winter. It spoke of blessings and harvest in all aspects of life.
That explains the haunting melody. But it’s so wonderfully done by Peter Hollens and his friends here. So much so that a viewer commented,
“This was absolutely, hands down, the best carol of the bells I’ve heard be sung in a cappella and you can’t change my mind. Period. You blew it out of the water! Happy Holidays!”
And to think that there are so many versions and covers out there. It is such a catchy version of a timeless classic!
This a fresh spin on a tried and true classic! Check it out below!
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