Here we go again! Just as we in the West conclude the Twelve Days of Christmas, adherents of the Eastern Orthodox Church today commence their celebrations of Orthodox Christmas. Chalk it up to the old Julian calendar.

Ukrainian Christmas Eve can be a solemn occasion, marked by fasts and sacred services. Meatless dishes are served for the Holy Night supper. But there are also carols. And the caroling is no simple singing of Christmas songs. Similar to mumming traditions of the British Isles, there is also a little play involved, with ritualistic dancing and the participation of a live goat. As in the West, pre-Christian symbols and rituals are embraced in the celebration of Christmas, to lend cheer to the shortest days and hope for a fertile spring.

Nikolai Gogol’s “Christmas Eve,” from his collection of stories, “Evenings on a Farm Near Dikanka,” emerges from these folk traditions. Part fairy tale and part farce, Gogol’s story features such incidentals as the theft of the moon, amorous peasants secreting themselves in burlap sacks, and a ride through the air on the Devil’s back to collect the Tsarina’s slippers.

“Christmas Eve” drew musical responses from both Peter Ilych Tchaikovsky and Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov. The two composers shared a complicated rivalry. In public, each was supportive of the other, while in private they were nagged by suspicion and envy. Tchaikovsky felt sufficiently threatened to swear his publisher to secrecy about his use of the then newly-minted celesta in “The Nutcracker,” lest Rimsky steal his thunder. Equally intimidated by Tchaikovsky, Rimsky held off on adapting “Christmas Eve” until 1895. Tchaikovsky had set his version ten years before, a revision of an even earlier opera, “Vakula the Smith,” written in 1871. By the time Rimsky’s “Christmas Eve” received its premiere, Tchaikovsky had been safely in the grave for two years.

We’ll hear selections from both composer’s operas today on The Classical Network, alongside observances of the birthdays of composers William Hurlstone, Ulysses Kay, and Francis Poulenc; conductors David Porcelijn and Gunter Wand; pianist Clara Haskil; violinist and conductor Iona Brown; and choral director Robert DeCormier.

Z Rizdvom Khrystovym! Good triumphs over evil, but the devil gets his due, from 4 to 7 p.m. EST, on WWFM – The Classical Network and wwfm.org.

An animated version of Gogol’s tale, incorporating some of Rimsky’s music:

https://www.wilderutopia.com/performance/literary/nikolai-gogol-witches-and-devils-on-christmas-eve/

A fun live-action version from 1961:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9MFoyMwfnlc

A 1913 silent version (but you’ll have to provide your own soundtrack):