The Pious Cat weaves together a lyrical vocal score, a traditional Yiddish folk song, and narration into a beautiful setting for soprano, narrator, clarinet and piano of this thought-provoking work by Yiddish author I.L. Peretz. The story is a parable of how devotion and piety are often used to excuse and rationalize even the most heinous acts. It has been variously interpreted as a thinly-veiled comment on the Czarist government’s behavior toward the Jewish communities living in Russia at the time, as an indictment of religion used as a tool for control, and as a strong condemnation of intolerance and persecution committed in the name of devotion.

View the Digital Booklet about the work here.