‘Hatikva’ gets Game of Thrones mashup

An Israeli violinist’s video mashup of “Hatikva,” Israeli national anthem, and the theme music of popular HBO fantasy drama Game of Thrones, has gone viral with over 50,000 views on YouTube as of Monday.

The black-and-white video, which was uploaded five days ago, shows percussionist Uriel Sverdin sitting on a couch playing drums. On the right-hand side, Michael Greilsammer plays a violin and a viola in a split screen.

The mashup, which was released ahead of Greilsammer’s upcoming European-North America tour, was recorded in lieu of a promotional video for a scheduled performance in France. The inspiration? The latest episode of Game of Thrones, which entered its much-awaited fourth season in early April.

“Just as I was watching the latest episode of Game of Thrones, I got a call from France, to make sure all the arrangements have been made for our performances there on [Israeli] Independence Day,” Greilsammer told Ynet. “They asked me to send them a short video promo.”

The result was the mashup, which quickly gained popularity last week, combining Iranian-German composer Ramin Djawadi’s opening theme for Game of Thrones with the music of “Hatikva,” adapted in the late 19th century from a European classical tune.

Next week, Greilsammer will embark on his tour, hitting cities in France, the UK, Germany and Canada.