[3] After Wilcox had initially started work on another idea, Metcalf contacted him about the true story of a 19th-century Inuit girl, Milak, who rescued a British sailor, Arthur.
Like the character in the opera, the true Milak was shown as a circus freak; unlike her, she returned home.
[3] The development of Tornrak was greatly influenced by Metcalf's move to Canada later in 1986 to teach on the Music Theatre course at the Banff Centre in Alberta.
[4] Wilcox visited Metcalf in Canada that winter to work on the first draft of the libretto and used the library facilities there to learn about Inuit traditions and mythology.
"If I wasn't in the North itself, at least I could now be in contact with a way of looking at the world, the culture, the music, and the language of the Inuit that would have been absolutely impossible in Wales.
[1] He also had ready access to experienced colleagues such as Keith Turnbull, the Assistant Director on the course, and Richard E. Armstrong who had worked with Roy Hart.
Differences in stress patterns between the two languages meant that Metcalf recomposed vocal lines, moving material initially intended to be sung into the orchestral parts.
While those who were involved in the project were sure that the final work was stronger than it would have otherwise been, the many changes resulted in severe delays to the opera's completion and led to repeated postponements of the first performance.
[15] The music is multi-layered and rhythmically complex, much of it using middle colours including woodwind and tuned percussion.
Metcalf's sometime collaborator, the writer Mark Morris, notes that Metcalf's first two operas and his cantata The Boundaries of Time had already considered such themes as the clash of cultures, the alienation of individuals from their surroundings, the attempts of humanity to communicate with Nature and the displacement of individuals from their homelands.
[11][16] Indigenous singers took part in the workshops in Banff and also travelled to Wales to train the WNO cast.
[19] The production team, led by Mike Ashman, won praise for its creativity with the limited resources available.
Paul Griffiths was more reserved about the "pleasant, straightforward fable", finding the vocal lines uninteresting except for the throat-singing but being happier with the orchestral sound.
[24] After being told by the Mate that Arthur Nesbit, a sailor from North Shields, has been behaving in a disruptive manner, the Captain asks him to explain his conduct.
Kellett and the last sailor Billy escape without Arthur who is saved from starvation only when he sees a polar bear taking meat from its hidden store.
Milak, a young Inuk, arrives led by her tornrak, or spirit guide, that takes the form of an owl.
The spirits of Inuit hunters sing that the bear's time has come and Arthur strikes the killing blow.
On the way she persuades him to leave behind the valuables that have been slowing him down, but she decides to keep the "Great White Bird flying with many wings", a ship in a bottle that reminds her of her tornrak.
Arthur and Milak, "The Wild Savage of the Frozen North", join a travelling fair in Wales where she is shown to members of the public in a cage.
She meets Arthur again who tries to persuade her to return to the Arctic but she thinks this is now impossible as she has become Westernised and cut off from Nature.
Arthur tears off his clothes and calls to Milak's spirit in the hope that the ship will be sunk and the Inuit protected from the dangers its crew bring.