This short opera, originally running only about 20 minutes, was conceived as the first of a series of radio operas by Olin Downes, the music critic of The New York Times, and Charles McArthur, a businessman.
In 1960, the piece was played in German at the Staatstheater in Hanover, directed by Hartmut Goebel and conducted by Walter Born, with Die sieben Todsünden.