Celebrate Christmas with festive Hungarian songs!

Illustration: Pixabay / neelam279

Christmas is a time of showing our family and loved ones how much we love them and how much we appreciate them being with us. Unfortunately, the pandemic that struck nearly two years ago has changed a lot of things about our lives, and it is affecting how we celebrate Christmas for the second time.

We send our condolences to everyone who has lost their loved ones and ask them to celebrate Christmas with us and focus on what they still have. Music can be a good tool to help us cope with hardships and really get people into the holiday spirit.

We have collected some of the most iconic or beloved Hungarian Christmas songs to help you cheer up and get into the holiday spirit. Play it while wrapping gifts or decorating the tree or just have fun and try to sing along to the Hungarian lyrics.

You will find three different categories of music and a few examples that are originally English tracks, but this time, you can sing them with Hungarian verses. Good luck, and Merry Christmas to you all!

Traditional Christmas Carols

Mennyből az angyal – Angel from heaven

This song is probably the most popular and presumably the oldest Hungarian Christmas carol. It originates from the church and, according to some information, its writer is Mihály Szentmihályi, a vicar who lived in the 18th century.

You can find many variations of this song, some sung by child choirs.

Katalin Benedekffy: Szent Karácsony Éjjelén – On the Night of Holy Christmas

Kis karácsony, nagy karácsony – Little Christmas, Big Christmas

This Hungarian folk song is a Nativity play song collected by Zoltán Kodály from Nógrád county in 1922.

Pop/rock Christmas songs

Neoton Família: Ha elmúlik Karácsony – If Christmas is over

Neoton Família (Newton Family) was one of the most successful Hungarian pop bands, with their career spanning several decades. This particular Christmas song was released on the “Minek ez a cirkusz?” album (What is all this fuss for?) in 1986.

Edda Művek: Ünnep – Holiday

Edda Művek is one of the most famous and greatest Hungarian rock bands which, apart from a few short breaks, has been active since 1973, making this band over 40 years old.

This song symbolising Christmas, love, and togetherness was released on the band’s fifth album in 1985.

TNT: Fehér Karácsony – White Christmas

TNT was a Hungarian pop band and was active between 1994 and 2005. This song was released on their album named TNT Három (Three) in 2000.

Piramis: Kívánj igazi ünnepet – Wish a true holiday

Piramis was established in 1974 and, thanks to hits on their first album such as “A becsület” (Honour) and “Szállj fel magasra!” (Fly high), they quickly rose to become one of the most popular rock bands in Hungary. They were active during the second half of the ‘70s and for a few years in the early ‘80s, and they restarted the band in 2009 with the name Piramis Plusz.

English with Hungarian singing

There are quite a few Christmas songs that come from English but Hungarians like to listen to during this festive time, but there are some that are also sung in Hungarian because there are Hungarian lyrics to the song. One example is the main song of Frozen. In the Hungarian dubbed version, the translators also created Hungarian lyrics for “Let it Go”.

Nikolett Füredi: Legyen hó! – Let it snow

Csendes Éj – Silent Night

Originally an Austrian Christmas carol from the 19th century, the English version became quite popular around the world, but there is also a Hungarian version of this song.