Favorite Christmas and New Year Songs from CEE

"Snijeg svud pada, Zvona zvone, Srca mlada vesele se, To je vrijeme ljubavi i mira, Sretan Božić svakome" are the lyrics of one of our most popular Christmas songs, accompanied by the band Fantomi. The single, recorded in 1992, is undoubtedly the biggest Croatian Christmas hit. The song is actually based on the English song "Merry Christmas Everyone" and is one of the first three Christmas songs released in Croatia. This Christmas song, which Croatians listen to almost exclusively in December, was written when the temperature was 30 degrees, in August to be exact, as Robert Mareković, who sings the song, once admitted.

"Tichá Noc" (Silent Night) is the most popular Christmas song in Slovakia, which is why this song has to be at number 1.

Among pop songs, "Každý deň budú vraj Vianoce" (Christmas will probably be any day) is also very popular. This song was written by Marián Kochanský, a frontman of the musical group Lojzo, and recorded in 1991. An interesting side aspect is that this song was not originally a Christmas song. The song became famous through the collaboration with the very well-known singer and guitarist Miroslav Žbirka.

The third song, is a song for children: "Vo Vianočnej pekárni" (In the Christmas Bakery). The original song is by Rolf Zuckowski and the Slovak lyrics were written by Miro Jaroš. Miro Jaroš is the most popular children's songwriter in Slovakia. He has written many songs and produced two Christmas albums for children.

In Serbia, Christmas songs are not as popular as New Year songs.Christmas is celebrated on 7 January, as the Serbian Orthodox Church follows the "old" or Julian calendar. There are some very beautiful and festive and old Christmas songs, such as "Рождество Твоје Христе Боже наш!" (Thy birth, our God Christ).

And now for a very popular New Year's song: "White stars fall from the sky" or even more popular: "Over the mountain, over the hill" (a somewhat loose translation, but close). The lyrics then follow Father Christmas, whose "sleigh hurries", and the children ask Santa "not to stray, not to delay, but to prepare the gifts". And then the chorus says: "White stars are falling from the sky, Santa's sleigh is flying over the mountain, Santa is coming to bring us joy".... This is a rather old song sung by the most popular children's choir in Serbia, "Kolibri". We have used this song on purpose because others have modern covers that do not reflect the true nature of the song and the New Year joy it brings to both children and adults! Although it has been many years now since it became popular, it is still the most important song when it comes to the New Year.

A classic Christmas carol from Hungary is “Mennyből az angyal”. It is the most popular and probably oldest Hungarian Christmas song. It was most likely written in the 18th century by Szentmihályi Mihály, a priest who
lived in the Boconád parish

"Silent Night, Holy Night" is undoubtedly Austria's best-known Christmas carol and also one of the best-known Christmas carols in the world. It was first performed on 24 December 1818 in the Roman Catholic church of St. Nikola in Oberndorf near Salzburg, where the Silent Night Chapel now stands, with a melody by Franz Xaver Gruber and lyrics by Joseph Mohr. Since then, the German lyrics have been translated and sung in 320 languages and dialects worldwide.

Of the original six stanzas, only the first, second and last stanzas are sung in the commonly known version. In 2011, Silent Night, Holy Night was recognised by UNESCO on application as an intangible cultural heritage in Austria.