The Christmas carol “Mennyből az angyal” (“From heaven the angel”) is the most popular carol in Hungary.
It was probably written by the parish priest of Boconád, Mihály Szentmihályi in the 18th century. Boconád is a village in Heves county, less than 100 km to the North-East of Budapest. The carol first became popular among the palóc people (Northern Hungary), and spread from there to Transsylvania and from there to the Hungarian-speaking world.
“Mennyből az angyal” was at first published in 1798 in the „Énekeskönyv” (“Songbook”) of the same priest. This makes it one of the oldest Christmas carols. The text and the score above are taken from the “Hozsanna” (Hosanna) Catholic hymnal, under the number 25 (page 121).
Text
Mennyből az angyal lejött hozzátok,
pásztorok, pásztorok,
hogy Betlehembe sietve menvén
lássátok, lássátok.
Istennek fia, aki született
jászolban, jászolban,
Ő leszen néktek Üdvözítőtök
valóban, valóban.
Mellette vagyon az édesanyja,
Mária, Mária,
barmok közt fekszik, jászolban nyugszik
szent fia, szent fia.
El is menének köszöntésére
azonnal, azonnal,
szép ajándékot vivén szívükben
magukkal, magukkal.
A kis Jézuskát egyenlőképpen
imádják, imádják,
a nagy Úristent ilyen nagy jóért
mind áldják, mind áldják.
Translated
From heaven the angel came down to you,
shepherds, shepherds,
so that you might hurry to Bethlehem
to see, to see.
The Son of God, who was born
in a manger, in a manger,
He is your Savior,
truly, truly.
With Him is His mother,
Mary, Mary,
lying among the animals, resting in a manger,
is her holy son, her holy son.
They went to greet Him
immediately, immediately,
carrying beautiful gifts in their hearts
with them, with them.
The little Jesus equally
they adore, they adore.
The great Lord God for such great goodness,
they bless, they bless.
The are various arrangements available, including for piano, flute and children’s’ choir.
PDF and MIDI files can be downloaded from here as well. The forum of the free music notation software MuseScore also has multiple arrangements.
Caroling in Westminster Cathedral in 2008. Image by davesandford, CC-BY-NC 2.0, here.