Digital Sheet Music - Into the Glittering World (for Carillon)
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Into the Glittering World (2023) for Carillon by Connor Chee
Into the Glittering World was commissioned by the Yale University Guild of Carillonneurs and is inspired by both the physical ascent of a carillonneur to the top of a bell tower and the Diné (Navajo) creation story of ascending through worlds. In Diné tradition, our ancestors journeyed through three worlds before emerging into the fourth world, which we call the Glittering World—a place where water shimmers and reflects light. This piece musically represents the transition from the Third World, where a great flood forced the beings to escape into the Fourth World.
The composition opens with a three-note motif from my earlier piano work The Water Monster, referencing the water monster whose anger caused the flood when Coyote kidnapped its child. A version of this theme appears in the bass register, evoking the presence of the floodwaters and the urgency of the ascent. As the piece progresses, the theme is gradually left behind, symbolizing the departure from the Third World. The music then shifts toward shimmering melodies and tremolo figures in the high bells, evoking the brilliance of the Glittering World.
Harmonically, the piece is rooted in tonality with prominent use of fourths—both as an acknowledgment of the sacred number four in Diné culture and as a representation of the ascent into the Fourth World. Triplet figurations create a sense of movement and urgency in the first half, leading to a more still and peaceful section as the Fourth World is reached. Near the end, a passage of flowing eighth notes explores fourths and fifths before resolving into the final statement of the Glittering World theme. The piece concludes with four whole-note chimes, reflecting the way we end our traditional Diné prayers by saying hózhǫ́ náhásdlį́į́ four times, which roughly translates to “it has become beautiful again.”
