 The production was staged in the summer of 1917 at a convention of the theosophical community of Halcyon in coastal San Luis Obispo County, California; Varian was a leader of the group, to which he had introduced the 20-year-old Cowell.Cowell would later claim that "The Tides of Manaunaun" had been composed in 1912, or even earlier.In 1944 Cowell arranged this song for orchestra and band – presumably to be played on radio – but the score was lost and no records have been found to confirm the radio broadcast.