Carol of the Bells originated from a traditional Ukrainian melody called Shchedryk. It is a unique musical motif in a minor key, built around four notes that are repeated indefinitely.
Originally, this song told the story of a swallow entering a house to announce the prosperity promised by the coming spring. Shchedryk was traditionally performed on the night of January 13, during New Year's Eve according to the Julian calendar.
In 1916, Mykola Leontovych proposed a harmonization at the request of the conductor of the Ukrainian National Choir, Alexander Koshetz. Tasked with promoting Ukrainian music abroad, the choir helped to popularize the piece during European tours in 1920-1921, then at Carnegie Hall in New York in 1922.
It was there that American choir director Peter Wilhousky discovered the work and decided to write new lyrics in English, inspired by Christmas bells. Thus Carol of the Bells was born, which would become one of the most famous Christmas carols in the world!

Mykola Leontovych was a Ukrainian composer, choral conductor, and music teacher renowned for his meticulous harmonizations of folk songs. Born in the Podolia region of the Russian Empire (now Ukraine), he grew up in a family of priests where music played an essential role. After studying at the Kamianets-Podilskyi Theological Seminary, he began working as a music instructor and choir director, refining his talent for arranging traditional melodies.
Leontovych devoted much of his career to elevating Ukrainian folk heritage through choral music, creating hundreds of arrangements distinguished by their clarity, richness, and innovative harmonies. His most famous work, Shchedryk, harmonized in 1916, would later become known worldwide as Carol of the Bells after the American composer Peter Wilhousky added English Christmas lyrics.
Despite his growing reputation, Leontovych lived a modest life, frequently moving due to political instability and his involvement in Ukraine’s cultural revival. He was an active supporter of the Ukrainian independence movement and contributed to the development of national music education.
Tragically, he was assassinated in 1921 by a Soviet agent, cutting short a promising career. Today, he is celebrated as a central figure in Ukrainian choral music.

Along his university studies (DEA in musicology, University of Paris IV-Sorbonne), Frédéric Cellier was awarded three first prizes and a development prize at the CNR of Nice and won first prize at the International Competition of Musical Execution - soloist category – of Stresa (Italy).

He is the laureate of the Fondation de France and the Yehudi Menuhin Foundation and accredited teacher at the CNR of Nice, the CNR of Marseille, and at the CRR Olivier Messiaen of Avignon (France).

Frédéric Cellier is the interpreter of Francis Poulenc’s Sonata for clarinet Bb and piano with Jean-Michel Damase, Jean Françaix or Gabriel Tacchino, as well as his own arrangements for clarinet and harp of Erik Satie's Gymnopédies and Gnossiennes with the great French harpist Elizabeth Fontan-Binoche, and for clarinet, piano, and string orchestra of George Gershwin's Rhapsody in blue for Wynton Marsalis or under the baton of Adrian Gershwin, grandson of the composer.

Founder and artistic director of STRADIVARIUS Editions, he is the author of light music pieces played around the world and a considerable number of arrangements of all styles and for all instruments, acclaimed by many personalities in the music world, including Michèle Auric, Jean Françaix, Adrian Gershwin, Wynton Marsalis, Yehudi Menuhin, Madeleine Milhaud, Manuel Rosenthal, Gabriel Tacchino, and Ornella Volta.

"Frédéric Cellier has produced a number of adaptations of Georges Auric's works with such talent and precision that I consider them a natural addition to his chamber music catalogue."
Michèle AURIC - Georges Auric's widow

"To Frédéric Cellier, excellent musician and tireless arranger."
Jean FRANÇAIX - Composer and pianist

"Arranging a musical work is always a delicate and risky exercise, because it requires both modifying it so that it can be played by the desired instruments and preserving its very essence. But that is exactly what Frédéric Cellier has done, preserving the nuances, subtleties and soul of the original works while breathing new life into them.
His arrangements give all the musicians the chance to perform these compositions specially revisited for their instrument, and make music lovers rediscover them in a new light."
Adrian GERSHWIN - George Gershwin’s grandson

"Congratulations for your beautiful new orchestration and rendition of Gershwin’s Rhapsody in blue."
Wynton MARSALIS - Trumpet player, composer, bandleader, general and artistic director of Jazz at Lincoln Center, New York

"It is outstanding that Frédéric Cellier has managed to transpose Saxophone Marmalade from the saxophone to the clarinet. I thank him for it and wish its great and deserved success. "
Manuel ROSENTHAL - Conductor, composer and Maurice Ravel’s pupil

"I am very happy to tell you how much I appreciated your transcription of the Capriccio, based on Francis Poulenc's Le Bal Masqué. It perfectly reflects the spirit and verve of the score for two pianos that I had the opportunity to play and record with Jacques Février, and it was a great pleasure for me to premiere it in Montpellier."
Gabriel TACCHINO - Pianist, Francis Poulenc’s specialist

"I must tell you that I really like your transcriptions and that I think the tone of the instruments you have chosen suits perfectly our beloved composer."
Ornella VOLTA - Musicologist, president of the Erik Satie’s Foundation