Icelandic musician Emmsjé Gauti was recruited to compose the official song for this year’s National Festival, held annually in the Westman Islands. The song, Þúsund hjörtu, was released today, alongside the song’s music video.
“Everyone sets out to do something different”
“Sometimes there are just things that work, and in those cases, you shouldn’t mess with them too much, but rather – make them more of your own,” musician Gauti Þeyr Másson, better known as Emmsjé Gauti, told Vísir in an interview today surrounding the release of a music video to Þúsund hjörtu (A Thousand Hearts), the official song of this year’s National Festival (i.e. Þjóðhátíð).
“I think everyone who gets entrusted with this project sets out wanting to do something different, but there are certain formulas in place,” Gauti continued, adding that the process had been a lot of fun. “We managed to compose a National Festival song that’s in our style.”
The song and lyrics were written by Emmsjé Gauti and producer Þormóður Eiríksson. Jón Ragnar Jónsson is credited as the song’s co-author. The three choirs featured in the song are the Men’s Choir of the Westman Islands, the Women’s Choir of the Westman Islands, and Fjallabræður.
The annual National Festival, first held in 1874 to commemorate the 1,000-year anniversary of Iceland’s settlement, draws over 10,000 attendees every summer.
