An unusual connection between American opera and George Edward Barton

There is a God whose laws unchangingNo one may hope to disobey.Man ' s own desires forced upon the ordained way.He for a moment triumphs,He has his will,He pays the penalty.    (Barton, 1905)The Pipe of Desire is a one act play published in 1905 by George Edward Barton, and set to operatic score by Frederick Converse.  It might be just a curious fact that architect George Barton attempted the role of librettist except for the historic implications of this effort.We know that as a young man Barton was raised in a family " steeped in the arts and letters " (de Lancey, 1958).  From the same source we also know that he had a bicycle encounter in the English countryside with King Edward VII where they were both " whistling operatic arias. "So although Barton may have had early exposure to and enjoyed the operatic form there is not much known about the specifics of how the historic collaboration with Converse actually came about.  Coburn (1909) wrote, " Yet refreshing and spontaneous qualities of romanticism are distinguishing marks of Converse ' s output.  A brief analysis of the subject matter of " The Pipe of Desire " the words of which were written by Converse ' s personal friend, George Edward Barton, a Boston architect, will perhaps reveal the kind of work in which this composer delights. "Their collaboration may have been a simple function of an apparent friendship between Converse and Barton.This was a daring collaboration because of longs...
Source: ABC Therapeutics Occupational Therapy Weblog - Category: Occupational Health Tags: Barton history Source Type: blogs