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Christmas Eve/Sarajevo 12/24 is an instrumental medley of "Carol of the Bells" and "God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen" first released on the Savatage album Dead Winter Dead in 1995 as "Christmas Eve (Sarajevo 12/24)." It was re-released by the Trans-Siberian Orchestra, a side project of several Savatage members, on TSO's 1996 debut album Christmas Eve and Other Stories. The piece describes a lone cello player playing a forgotten Christmas carol in war-torn Sarajevo.

Paul O'Neill explained the story behind Christmas Eve/Sarajevo 12/24 in an interview published on ChristianityToday.com:

    ... We heard about this cello player born in Sarajevo many years ago (Vedran Smailović) who left when he was fairly young to go on to become a well-respected musician, playing with various symphonies throughout Europe. Many decades later, he returned to Sarajevo as an elderly man—at the height of the Bosnian War, only to find his city in complete ruins.

    I think what most broke this man's heart was that the destruction was not done by some outside invader or natural disaster—it was done by his own people. At that time, Serbs were shelling Sarajevo every night. Rather than head for the bomb shelters like his family and neighbors, this man went to the town square, climbed onto a pile of rubble that had once been the fountain, took out his cello, and played Mozart and Beethoven as the city was bombed.

    He came every night and began playing Christmas carols from that same spot. It was just such a powerful image—a white-haired man silhouetted against the cannon fire, playing timeless melodies to both sides of the conflict amid the rubble and devastation of the city he loves. Some time later, a reporter traced him down to ask why he did this insanely stupid thing. The old man said that it was his way of proving that despite all evidence to the contrary, the spirit of humanity was still alive in that place.

    The song basically wrapped itself around him. We used some of the oldest Christmas melodies we could find, like "God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen" and "Carol of the Bells" (which is from Ukraine, near that region). The orchestra represents one side, the rock band the other, and single cello represents that single individual, that spark of hope.

"Christmas Eve/Sarajevo 12/24" was also one of the songs featured on the Trans-Siberian Orchestra's only (as of 2006) DVD, The Ghosts Of Christmas Eve, and is played twice at every live show: once as part of the Christmas Eve and Other Stories half of the show, and later as a finale. Along with "Wizards In Winter", it is generally regarded as the TSO's most recognizable recording.

The cellist that the story refers to is Vedran Smailović. However, unlike the "white-haired man" referred to in the story, Smailović was in his mid-thirties at the time of the Siege of Sarajevo.

The song is often misnamed "Carol of the Bells" (due to its use of the melody) on file-sharing networks. As such, it has also been incorrectly linked to Metallica or Mannheim Steamroller (who themselves have several instrumental Christmas music hits, including renditions of both God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen and Carol of the Bells, the latter of which has a similar arrangement to the TSO version) rather than accurately being attributed to either Savatage or the Trans-Siberian Orchestra.

The song has recently appeared on the trailer for The Spirit.


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