Cirrus@Austlit

Cantata.

'Uller the Bowman" enshrines an episode in tho life of Uller the sturdy God of Winter, predestined to fall in lovo with the maiden Skadi whilst hunting. Their meeting in the forest, hor pitiful story of loneliness, their mutual love, the ensuing festivities, and a description of a Norwegian sunset, aro all included in tho well-planned poetic scheme of the librettist, W. J. Curtis ('Royal Sydney Liedertafel.' The Sydney Morning Herald 10 July 1913, p. 12).

The Sydney Morning Herald review records:

Mr Curtis has written an uncommonly good poem, in which the old Norse battleground of the gods and the giants is deftly and gracefully exploited… [while] Mr Orchard's music… has music vigour and picturesqueness where the descriptive passages are called for, while the love episodes of Scardi is handled with much feeling ('Music and Drama.' Sydney Morning Herald 1 February 1913, p.6).

A synopsis of the cantata is published in the Evening Post, Wellington (New Zealand):

Based upon Norse mythology, wherein the eternal conflict between good and evil is represented by the constant struggle for supremacy between the gods and the giants. The gods dwelt peacefully in Asgard, each in a golden palace, rejoicing in their power, while the Walkyries, clad in shining armour and mounted on white chargers, kept watch. Oller, the sturdy god of winter, who, heedless of winds and storms, made long journeys on his wondrous snowshoes over seas and lakes, lived in Ydalir, or "'Yew-dale," where grew the pliant yaw-tree, from which were made his deadly bows and arrows. The present episode tells how Uller, while hunting in the forest, meets and falls in love with Skadi, the beautiful daughter of the storm giant, Thiassi, whom the gods had relentlessly destroyed. It is considered that the atmosphere thus created fittingly lends itself to musical treatment for baritone solo and male chorus, in complete contrast with the music of the lone huntress (soprano), of whom the gods decreed that she should meet her lover a-hunting in the forest. After a brief prologue, in which the voice of the present invokes the spirit of the past, and bids the god live once more, the main part of the work begins with an indication of an approaching storm. This soon leads to Uller's arrival on silvery, snow tipped shoes, attended by the elements, of which he was lord and master. He then narrates his prowess in the forest, his protective care for the flowers and plants during winter, and his disregard of the raging storm. Ultimately his followers attend him, at the hunt. On they go to the chase, when suddenly the beautiful vision of Skadi appears. Her pitiful narrative (soprano solo) transforms the sympathy of Uller into fervent love. A description of a Norwegian sunset (male chorus) precedes the awakening of the storms and winds, who dance in honour of the marriage of their sovereign lord. The dance music begins with a dainty measure interspersed with subdued rumbling of the storm and weird murmuring of the wind, intermingled with the voices of the air. Later comes a movement of greater intensity and wilder in character, which is soon abruptly terminated by the imperious Uller, and immediately leads into the testive banqueting scene, with which the work concludes ('Mimes and Music' 2 Aug. 1913, p.11).