Hungarian prime minister Viktor Orbán continued his long-running series of Christmas posts on Facebook with the ninth installment, this time featuring a short montage video of the country to the tune of the traditional Hungarian Christmas song, “Mennyből az angyal” (Angel from Heavens).
The song is not only the most popular in Hungary but likely the oldest Hungarian Christmas song.
It is attributed to 18th-century vicar Mihály Szentmihályi and first recorded on a phonograph cylinder in 1910. The tune was transcribed by world-famous Hungarian composer and ethnomusicologist Béla Bartók.
Showing various winter and Christmas-themed short outdoor cuts from around Hungary, the video ends with a panoramic shot of downtown Budapest with the parliament building in the background and the greeting “Merry Christmas, Hungary!”
Title image: Nativity scene in rural Hungary (source: Viktor Orbán’s Facebook page)
