Hungarian Christmas

Sándor Szokolay’s album Hungarian Christmas was released by Hungaroton in the early 1980s and went gold when it sold over 100,000 copies. The easily accessible and classical arrangements of Hungarian Christmas songs and Nativity plays contributed enormously to the popularity of the record. Szokolay’s hallmark instrumentalization is mixed with pure devotion and lively humour. The Szokolay oeuvre features a good number of compositions linked to the Christmas season. Indeed, among his earliest works is Christmas Children’s Miniatures. Throughout his life he kept returning to the subjects of Advent and the Christmas mystery. He presented his children with a new composition virtually every Christmas. Continuing the tradition in the spirit of Szokolay, during the first half of the concert prize-winning works of the Szokolay InspirArt – SZIA 2019 composer competition are performed by young artists as well as students of the Bartók Music Secondary School.