Although little is yet known about Father James Duff, a literary-minded Roman Catholic priest based in Perth during the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, he nevertheless holds an infamous place in Western Australian theatre history as one of the combatants in an odd and bitter legal battle over the musical drama The Two Worlds (1900). Indeed, the history of this musical drama is so littered with controversy, legal action, and bitterness that at least three different versions of the work were produced.
The situation arose after Duff commissioned composer Dr Joseph Summers to write the music for his dramatisation of Milton's epic poems Paradise Lost and Paradise Regained. Summers had moved to Western Australia after establishing a high-profile reputation as a conductor, composer, music director, and accompanist in Melbourne. The collaboration between Duff and Summers soured, however, to the point where Duff engaged another composer, Reginald D'Arcy-Irvine, to complete the score. 'Complaints, accusations, claims [and] arguments flew back and forth,' writes A. H. Kornweibel in Apollo and the Pioneers (p.93). Summers then took out an injunction to try and stop Duff's production going ahead. Although he won the first legal round, a second court case established no clear winner. Duff eventually produced his version of the drama in Victoria and South Australia, while Summers claims to have staged an 'acclaimed' version of his work at Perth's Government House, using the Williamson Royal Opera Company (1903). History seems to argue, however, that neither work's critical success outweighed the interest that the two men created in the courts.
