by Vidhurinda Samaraweera
The horn maintains a distinctly limited position in South Asian popular music, primarily confined to orchestral settings and film scores rather than mainstream popular genres. Even in film music, horn parts are often played using electronic synthesizers. This limited integration stems from both practical and cultural factors that shape the instrument's role in the region's musical landscape.
In Sri Lanka, the horn's presence emerged through military bands and orchestral ensembles during the British colonial period (see Horn Playing in Sri Lanka). Despite the influence in classical spheres, the impact on popular music remained minimal due to the lack of awareness, interest, and demand, limitations in knowledge, and acoustic characteristics that pose challenges in amplified settings. Unlike other brass instruments prominent in regional genres like Papare music, the horn's softer timbre makes it less suitable for unamplified outdoor performances and large venues (see Sri Lankan Papara Music).
The Indian film industry, particularly Bollywood, has integrated the horn more extensively. Composers such as A.R. Rahman use the instrument in film scores, although primarily in orchestral arrangements rather than pop compositions. Notable examples include Rahman's use of horn in Dil Se (1998) and Rang De Basanti (2006), where the instrument provides dramatic underscore rather than melodic content. In Bollywood, Tamil (Kollywood), and Malayali Indian film scores, notable horn calls and big layers of section soli can be heard. However, it was only in 2016 that music for an Indian film was first recorded with a live symphony orchestra. Sairat achieved this feat with a Hollywood orchestra in 2016.
Contemporary horn players have emerged in cross-cultural musical endeavors, performing with both orchestras and various contemporary ensembles. Such work demonstrates the instrument's potential in bridging classical and popular idioms, although such crossover remains exceptional rather than normative in the region. More recently, the use of horn in live pop orchestra settings have become a trend in Sri Lanka, and if the industry continues to develop, the horn could potentially become standard in pop orchestras.
I have had the fortune of contributing to the Sri Lankan popular music industry by playing in several television recordings and live performances. Music Directors such Mahesh Denipitiya, Charitha Attalage, and Eshan Denipitiya are three of the notable musicians who used horn in their compositions. The horn was featured for the first-time in recent Sri Lankan television history in a program titled Dell Studio Season 02 in 2015. A popular song titled Romanthika Operawa by contemporary Sri Lankan artist Kasun Kalhara was featured in the program. Thereafter, the horn was featured sporadically in 2017 and 2018 in live performances but mostly remained unused. After a long hiatus, in 2023, Charitha Attalage, a French-born Sri Lankan musician and producer, employed the horn in his orchestra at a concert titled Kuweni Live in Concert held at the Nelum Pokuna Theatre in Colombo. The horn was also used as part of a funk ensemble in several of his compositions.
In my opinion, Eshan Denipitiya, who is a classically trained virtuoso pianist, is a contemporary composer who has been able to bring the best out of the horn, both as an orchestral and pop instrument. His rise to the popular stage as a music director came in 2023 with a concert called Dream Fest 3.0 held in Colombo. His arrangement for a 4-part wind section, including a horn, for a popular song called Ciao Malli became a highlight in his debut. It was even performed as part of a surprise act in a recently concluded stadium concert in Colombo titled Naadha Gama 360° just one year after its premiere. Naadha Gama 360° included many other songs in which horn was featured. While Eshan masterfully made the arrangements, Nuwan Gunawardhana (trombonist and arranger for A-Team Horns) did the voicing tastefully.
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| A-Team Horns |
The success of the integration of the horn into popular music is not only attributable to pioneering composers. The only ensemble in South Asia that uses a horn in a 4-part wind section is A-Team Horns Sri Lanka. A-Team Horns have been the cornerstone of wind section playing in pop and funk settings here and includes trumpet, saxophone, trombone, and horn. There is a growing demand for such sections in South Asia, especially in India and Sri Lanka, given that composers such as A.R. Rahman, Eshan Denipitiya, Charitha Attalage, and Mahesh Denipitiya continue to compose for horn. The emergence of concerts and recording opportunities has established industry benchmarks and will certainly encourage composers, event organizers, artists, and players to push their limits.
Given that almost all pop concerts are held in large venues, amplification is required, and something Sri Lanka lacks is technical know-how in equalizing, i.e. EQing, the horn sound. I have worked with multiple audio engineers and still have not had a satisfactory outcome. It remains a challenge both from a player’s perspective and that of an engineer. Besides avoiding bleeding of sound into nearby microphones, achieving a good timbre in the output remains a challenge.
I believe we can look forward to more South Asian productions to include horn in the future; however, it is evident that more knowledge is required for further improvement. (I would humbly request that anyone reading this article with expertise in EQing horns, and kindly willing to do so, to contact me at vidhurindasamaraweera@gmail.com. Technical education would certainly help horn players take another big step in South Asia.)
