Monday Ice: Everyday life singing

Singing is a national past time in Iceland, people break out in song on a regular basis especially at social gatherings such as the community celebration of Þorrablót and most towns no matter how small seem to have a choir of some description. Of course at Christmas time these choirs come out in force and last year I was able to witness the beautiful melodic voices of one in Sauðárkrókur.  I also fondly remember a group of guests at Ross and Olga's wedding breaking into song at Reykir in the evening after the barbecue. 

Apparently there are approximately 87 music schools scattered around Iceland, for such a small country this is quite a number.

This first video is one I found on Google videos and I know people tell me that Iceland's population is small and everybody is related somehow and that there is much less than 6 degrees of separation in Iceland.  Well imagine my surprise when I recognised most of the participants in this video of a family reunion singing old Icelandic songs in a tent on a mountain...my daughter inlaw Olga is front and centre surrounded by her family, many of whom I met earlier this year.

Sigga please let me know where and when this was...I spied Anja there also!

The next one is of a group of horsemen and women singing and drinking, before they saddle up for the final stage of the horse roundup in Skagafjördur. 

Horses riding must stimulate some music nerve endings... so here are a couple more.

And to finish off here is an old icelandic song played on a traditional Icelandic instrument.