Mykola Leontovych was a master of the choral miniature, creator of over 150 arrangements of Ukrainian folk songs for a cappella choir. His style is marked by virtuoso polyphony, refined harmony, and a vivid “living” sense of folk melos.
His chief masterpiece is Shchedryk (1916): building on a four-note ancient spring-calling chant, Leontovych crafted a polyphonic choral work that became the worldwide Christmas hit Carol of the Bells. On the night of 23 January 1921, Leontovych was shot by a Cheka agent at his father's home in the village of Markivka, Vinnytsia region. His death was among the first in a long line of murders of Ukrainian intellectuals by the Soviet regime. Other masterpieces: “Dudaryk,” “Kozaka nesut,” “Mala maty odnu dochku,” “Prialia.”
