Serbian Christmas Music Recommendations
December 28, 2010 3:28 AM Subscribe
We are having some visiting Serbian friends over for a late (by our standards) Christmas meal in a few days. They will literally be on the other side of the world in New Zealand at this time. I'd like to play some Serbian Christmas music that they would enjoy, music that says "Christmas" to them, especially so far from home. I understand that the actual Serbian Christmas is not until January 7th, but I'd like to play music that lets them know we have gone to some trouble to help them enjoy Christmas. Any recommendations, especially those accessible via iTunes or YouTube, would be most welcome.
(I should also note that most of Croatia Records' catalog is also on iTunes.)
posted by mykescipark at 6:58 AM on December 28, 2010
posted by mykescipark at 6:58 AM on December 28, 2010
Best answer: You may want to avoid playing anything Croatian, actually - "Sretan Bozic Svakome" is not Serbian. The St Sava Serbian Orthodox Choir suggested above is fine, if somewhat sombre, but note that Serbs don't have specific music at Christmas. It's very sweet of you to want to play something that'll make them feel at home - why not ask them instead to bring some typical Serbian music to share with you? Oh, and you can't go wrong with anything by Goran Bregovic. Have fun!
posted by Dragonness at 8:17 AM on December 28, 2010 [1 favorite]
posted by Dragonness at 8:17 AM on December 28, 2010 [1 favorite]
Dragonness, thanks. That V/A comp was actually gifted to me by a friend of Serbian extraction, so either he's remarkably open-minded or just unaware.
(I found a lot of Serbian pop renditions of Xmas songs, but they were all too horrible to bear. There is YouTube for stuff like that.)
posted by mykescipark at 10:30 AM on December 28, 2010
(I found a lot of Serbian pop renditions of Xmas songs, but they were all too horrible to bear. There is YouTube for stuff like that.)
posted by mykescipark at 10:30 AM on December 28, 2010
Mykescipark, this is a very sensitive area, that's why I suggested the OP not take the risk. Regular Croatians pop music would most likely be totally fine, but religious music is something else. I can't speculate why your friend gave you the Croatian Christmas compilation, but I suspect if he played it at his parents' home for instance, there'd be awkwardness, to say the least.
Oh, and I agree with you 100% about horrible Serbian pop renditions of Xmas songs.
posted by Dragonness at 11:48 AM on December 28, 2010
Oh, and I agree with you 100% about horrible Serbian pop renditions of Xmas songs.
posted by Dragonness at 11:48 AM on December 28, 2010
This thread is closed to new comments.
If you want something more traditional, try some Serbian orthodox choral chants, such as the St. Sava Serbian Orthodox Choir. iTunes also has a similar album by Cherubika.
And although it may be politically more tenuous to do so, Croatia Records has a ton of Christmas records on their site. (Almost any holiday song you care to name was probably written before 1991 anyway.)
If you're continuing to search on your own, the word you want is Božićne.
posted by mykescipark at 6:58 AM on December 28, 2010