[1] The opera was commissioned by the Royal Academy of Music, with a grant from the William Manson Fund, and the premiere took place there on 16 July 1960.
Tate started with a synopsis, and after Franklin had turned it into a libretto, she acknowledged that "his great experience as a singer at Glyndebourne and Covent Garden has been of enormous help to me."
[2] After the premiere at the Royal Academy of Music, the opera was broadcast on the BBC Third Programme on 2 February 1964, with Johanna Peters (Emma), Joseph Ward (the Lodger), Alexander Young (Joel Chandler), Owen Brannigan (George), conducted by Charles Groves.
[7] After the premiere, the editor of Opera magazine noted the "highly competent professionalism and the natural feel for the stage that the composer displays" with the composer able "to write music that can create both atmosphere and tension; how to write music that can be sung (though some of the conversational passages could have moved at a slightly faster pace): how to use her orchestra both economically and effectively".
[8] Lewis Foreman describes the opera as dramatically effective, "with its fog-and-gaslight atmosphere, and a divided set showing two rooms simultaneously.