A shchedrivka is the kolyadka's younger sister, tied to the Old-Style New Year celebration. Shchedruvalnyky (mostly young people) walked from home to home singing wishes for a bountiful year: good bread, healthy children, full granaries.
Shchedryk by Mykola Leontovych (first performed 1916) is the most famous shchedrivka in the world. Based on an ancient four-note chant that called spring, it became the Christmas hit Carol of the Bells, heard every year in films like Home Alone, Die Hard 2, and in advertising. The original text: “Shchedryk, shchedryk, shchedrivochka, a little swallow flew in…” — although the shchedrivka speaks of spring, it is sung in winter, because it is tied to the ancient January New Year.
