Ernst Krenek, composer, and Emmet Lavery, author and playwright, presented a laboratory première of their opera, Tarquin, under the auspices of the Experimental Theatre. The work was an attempt to join modern music and modern drama in a form that its creators called “singing theater.”  Scored in the twelve-tone method for a cast of seven—three speaking parts and four singing parts—and an orchestra of six, the opera, while drawing its title from the Etruscan noble, was a satire on Adolf Hitler.  In this production, Mr. Krenek was the pianist and Mr. Lavery, the director; the cast was drawn from The Experimental Theatre and the music department.  

An Austrian émigré, Krenek was a member of the department of music from 1939 until 1942.