Drawn to the circle

Drawn to the Circle began with a field recording of a boar tusk horn calling people into a full circle. The sound comes from Malekula Island in Vanuatu, performed by Melteg Ike and Mal Maru of the Big Nambas cultural group, and recorded by Raymond Clausen in 1962. When I first heard it, I was struck by how two players became one sound. It felt less like music and more like an invitation — a call to gather.

The idea of the circle stayed with me. A circle has no front or back, and no one stands above another. Across cultures, people meet in circles to listen, to share, and to mark time together. In this recording, the call draws people inward, toward community. I spent time researching the Big Nambas people and the island of Malekula, using archival material from the Pitt Rivers Museum. Looking at landscapes and objects helped me imagine the life around the sound. The piece came together quickly after that, shaped by thoughts about what connects us as humans. I found myself wondering how a call rooted in one community could arrive here with me in Athens, and how it might speak to my own sense of belonging.

When composing, I treated the field recording as something living. The cello and voices follow its texture and tone, moving with it rather than leading it. My partner and baby daughter participated in the process and helped me record some of the percussion. Their presence became part of the piece, making the act of recording feel communal — less like producing a track, and more like standing in a circle together and responding to the call.

Working with this recording has been a privilege. It has reminded me how deeply human the act of gathering is, and how sound can carry that impulse across place, time, and generation.

"Merer Pake": nDavu trumpet signal reimagined by Ana Habesh.

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Part of the project A Century of Sounds, reimagining 100 sounds covering 100 years from the collections of the Pitt Rivers Museum at the University of Oxford. Explore the full project at citiesandmemory.com/century-sounds