Music is an important part of Christmas celebration all over Romania.
There is a special genre of music, related to Christmas carols but with more traditional / Christian lyrics.
These are named colindă.
Although the text of all colinde is concerned with the events of the Nativity, certain elements of the folk rituals performed around Christmas are probably pre-Christian in origin, having their roots in the Roman Saturnalia and pagan rituals related to the winter solstice and soil fertility.
Colinde are performed in all parts of Romania (including Moldova), with regional variations in terms of the number of participants, the exact timing of different melodies and lyrics.

In traditional Romanian rural society, preparations for colinde started well in advance (sometimes weeks) before Christmas.
The village youth (usually boys) would begin to form groups in different places and designate a leader to practice singing in unison.
These groups are called cete de colindători, and their numbers vary from region to region.

Then, starting on Christmas Eve, the groups would go to different houses and begin singing.
In some villages, they go first to the mayor's house, followed by the teacher's house, whereas in other parts there is no pre-established order.
The families would then invite them into the house and give them different small gifts such as nuts, dried fruits, and pretzels.
There are also adaptations from international hit carols into Romanian, for example "Noapte de vis" (from "Silent Night") or "O, brad frumos!" (
from "O Tannenbaum").

Examples of colinde with religious subject are "Astăzi s-a născut Hristos" (Today Christ Was Born), "O, ce veste minunată!" (
Oh, What Wonderful News!), "
Trei păstori" (Three Shepherds), " Trei crai de la rărărit", " Steaua" (The Star) or " Sus la poarta Raiului" (Up at Heaven's Gate).
The first two ones talk about the Nativity of Jesus.
The first one indicates people to pray for Jesus and thank him for being born while the other one informs us how Christ was born and praises Mary.
The other ones tell the stories of the Three shepherds, Three Magi and of the Christmas star.
The latter one, "Sus la poarta Raiului" is a portrait of the Manger during Jesus' nativity.

Apart from the religious songs, there are also many other original colinde about subjects like Joy, Prosperity or Caroling itself.
For example "Moş Crăciun cu plete dalbe" (White-Haired Santa Claus), "Colindiţa", "Pluguşorul" or "Scoală gazdă" (Awaken, Host).
The first one talks us about Moş Crăciun (literary Old Father Christmas, who is in fact Santa Claus) and his act of bringing nice children presents on Christmas day.
The third and fourth ones are about specific Romanian customs to provide and maintain health or prosperity.
They count some reasons for Caroling.
The last one tells the story of a family where the mother wasn't able to cook colăcuț (special Christmas pastry).
They ask the host to whom they perform the colind to give them a colăcuț, claiming their mother didn't have the tools and ingredients to make it.
As we can figure out, the song was originally performed after New Year, as they claim that "When the oven started working, the New Year had already arrived!
 [sic]"
Many folklore musicians covered, re-mastered or did renditions to those songs, some of them being well-known artists such as Maria Tănase.
Beyond traditional music, mainstream artists have also involved themselves in Christmas culture.
One example is Madrigal choir who covered over 20 carols.
Ştefan Hruşcă is another Christmas music alumni who kicks off Christmas nationwide tours in late November yearly.
He had also covered hundreds of songs and put them on at least three Christmas albums.
Rock & Roll singer-songwriter and actor Ştefan Bănică, Jr. has a now-traditional concert series to honor Christmas, ever since 2002.
They are called Împreună de Crăciun / Concert extraordinar de Craciun and take place at Sala Palatului in Bucharest.
He also released a Christmas album including the top ten smash hit "Doar o dată e Crăciunul" (Christmas Is Only Once).

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Music is an important part of Christmas celebration all over Romania. There is a special genre of music, related to Christmas carols but with more traditional / Christian lyrics. These are named colindă. Although the text of all colinde is concerned with the events of the Nativity, certain elements of the folk rituals performed around Christmas are probably pre-Christian in origin, having their roots in the Roman Saturnalia and pagan rituals related to the winter solstice and soil fertility. Colinde are performed in all parts of Romania (including Moldova), with regional variations in terms of the number of participants, the exact timing of different melodies and lyrics.
In traditional Romanian rural society, preparations for colinde started well in advance (sometimes weeks) before Christmas. The village youth (usually boys) would begin to form groups in different places and designate a leader to practice singing in unison. These groups are called cete de colindători, and their numbers vary from region to region.
Then, starting on Christmas Eve, the groups would go to different houses and begin singing. In some villages, they go first to the mayor's house, followed by the teacher's house, whereas in other parts there is no pre-established order. The families would then invite them into the house and give them different small gifts such as nuts, dried fruits, and pretzels. There are also adaptations from international hit carols into Romanian, for example "Noapte de vis" (from "Silent Night") or "O, brad frumos!" (from "O Tannenbaum").
Examples of colinde with religious subject are "Astăzi s-a născut Hristos" (Today Christ Was Born), "O, ce veste minunată!" (Oh, What Wonderful News!), " Trei păstori" (Three Shepherds), " Trei crai de la rărărit", " Steaua" (The Star) or " Sus la poarta Raiului" (Up at Heaven's Gate). The first two ones talk about the Nativity of Jesus. The first one indicates people to pray for Jesus and thank him for being born while the other one informs us how Christ was born and praises Mary. The other ones tell the stories of the Three shepherds, Three Magi and of the Christmas star. The latter one, "Sus la poarta Raiului" is a portrait of the Manger during Jesus' nativity.
Apart from the religious songs, there are also many other original colinde about subjects like Joy, Prosperity or Caroling itself. For example "Moş Crăciun cu plete dalbe" (White-Haired Santa Claus), "Colindiţa", "Pluguşorul" or "Scoală gazdă" (Awaken, Host). The first one talks us about Moş Crăciun (literary Old Father Christmas, who is in fact Santa Claus) and his act of bringing nice children presents on Christmas day. The third and fourth ones are about specific Romanian customs to provide and maintain health or prosperity. They count some reasons for Caroling. The last one tells the story of a family where the mother wasn't able to cook colăcuț (special Christmas pastry). They ask the host to whom they perform the colind to give them a colăcuț, claiming their mother didn't have the tools and ingredients to make it. As we can figure out, the song was originally performed after New Year, as they claim that "When the oven started working, the New Year had already arrived!  [sic]"
Many folklore musicians covered, re-mastered or did renditions to those songs, some of them being well-known artists such as Maria Tănase. Beyond traditional music, mainstream artists have also involved themselves in Christmas culture. One example is Madrigal choir who covered over 20 carols. Ştefan Hruşcă is another Christmas music alumni who kicks off Christmas nationwide tours in late November yearly. He had also covered hundreds of songs and put them on at least three Christmas albums. Rock & Roll singer-songwriter and actor Ştefan Bănică, Jr. has a now-traditional concert series to honor Christmas, ever since 2002. They are called Împreună de Crăciun / Concert extraordinar de Craciun and take place at Sala Palatului in Bucharest. He also released a Christmas album including the top ten smash hit "Doar o dată e Crăciunul" (Christmas Is Only Once).
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Christmas in Romania