HBO’s Game of Thrones fantasy continent of Westeros has just been honored with an unofficial national anthem… by way of the holy land.
Israeli singer-songwriter Michael Greilsammer has released a mashup version of the opening theme music from the hit HBO series combined with the national anthem of Israel, “Hatikvah.” The black and white video of Greilsammer and company performing the composition was uploaded to his YouTube account on Wednesday and has already grabbed the attention of local media.
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The spontaneous idea for the mashup came earlier this week as Greilsammer was preparing to embark on an upcoming tour. “Right after watching the last episode of Game of Thrones I got a call regarding my concerts in France for Israel’s independence day,” he says. “They asked for a promo video, at that moment I got the idea to do this.”
The lyrics for “Hatikvah,” which means “The Hope,” were adapted from Jewish writer Naphtali Herz Imber’s 1877 poem. The song was composed by Samuel Cohen in 1888 and proclaimed the Israeli anthem when the state was established in May 1948 (listen to an instrumental version here.)
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As for Greilsammer, he saw breakout success in 2009 with his debut album Mitorer / Je me réveille (Waking Up), which was also released by French music label Naïve. The performer consistently plays abroad, booking dates in the UK, France, Germany and the Ottawa Jazz Festival. Keep up with Greilsammer at his official Facebook page.
And hear his mash-up in the video below:
Twitter: @THR_Earshot
