ABSTRACT
John Henry Antill's creative career spans much of Australia's post-colonial period and just beyond, beginning with his youthful experiments during the years of World War 1 and culminating in his last output of note at the end of the 1960s. In the pre-Corroboree period his preoccupation was with opera, while his later output, from around the time of Corroboree or just prior, concentrated on ballet. The Glittering Mask largely comprises music of a similar character to that of Here's Luck. However a notable shift of tone can be seen in the first number of Act II, titled 'Corroboree'. For The Serpent Woman, Antill once more turned to Greek mythology for his source. John Wheeler's text sets the myth of Lamia, the fabled serpent woman, who seduces men and leads them to destruction.
