COMPOSER • PIANIST
Narotam Horn is a composer and pianist based in London. His music brings features of western jazz and classical music together with the devotional folk music of west bengal.
No Mud, No Lotus
Narotam Horn
No Mud, No Lotus is the debut album from pianist and composer Narotam Horn; a contemplative suite inspired by Thich Nhat Hanh’s teachings, blending jazz, contemporary classical forms, and traditional Bengali folk songs.
About
No Mud, No Lotus is a collection of solo piano works inspired by Thich Nhat Hanh’s teachings in his book of the same name. Each piece explores these ideas through playful, interweaving patterns that draw on harmonic devices from Ernst Levy’s theory of negative harmony. These approaches deepen and nuance familiar musical polarities and musical material is transformed through the acknowledgment of its opposite: major becomes minor, tension becomes repose, yet both remain preserved and interconnected. What may appear “dark” or “inverted” is simply another expression of the same underlying structure.
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Narotam’s musical language weaves together jazz and contemporary classical harmony with the melodic and spiritual intimacy of traditional Bengali folk songs, collectively seeking to echo nature’s reminder that suffering can give rise to beauty.
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No Mud, No Lotus will be released via download and streaming on iXi Records on 10 April 2026.
Artwork
Ninon Ardisson’s artwork depicts a conch shell, whose spiral structure and resonant form has long made it an ancient symbol of renewal.
Bio
Narotam Horn is a composer, pianist, and improviser whose music is infused with the devotional spirit and storytelling of bhajan melodies from Bengali folk traditions.
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Growing up between cultures, with religious parents who were devotees of the Hare Krishna movement, Narotam was immersed in the devotional music of West Bengal from an early age, while also undergoing rigorous training in classical piano and composition.
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A graduate of the Purcell School, where he studied composition under Dai Fujikura, and Goldsmiths University (MMus, Distinction), where he studied with Roger Redgate, Narotam’s music is shaped by both spiritual and technical disciplines. These foundations have grounded his practice and helped cultivate a distinctive musical language that bridges spirituality, contemporary composition, and jazz improvisation.
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His works have been performed at some of the U.K.’s most prestigious venues, including the National Gallery, the Serpentine Gallery, Cadogan Hall and Wigmore Hall.​