The Wife of Lot

A Pagan Mass
Commissioned by the Gavin Dillard Poetry Library & Archive, and made possible by a generous donation from Steven J. Schimmel. The Wife is Lot is part of the collection of the Senator John Heinz History Center, in Association with the Smithsonian Institution.

Libretto by Gavin Dillard
Music by Clint Borzoni

We cannot ascend unto the world of the gods without first having completed being human.

The Wife of Lot (a pagan mass) is the latest collaboration between the award-winning duo Clint Borzoni (composer) and Gavin Geoffrey Dillard (poet/librettist). Although pagan (non-religious), The Wife of Lot is a mass in the traditional five-part form: Kyrie, Gloria, Credo, Sanctus, Agnus Dei.

Lot tells the story of the God-man who looks back upon the world of feast and flesh before somewhat reluctantly ascending the stairway into the stars. It is written for mezzo soprano, countertenor, baritone soli, mixed choir (SATB) and chamber orchestra.

From the creators of When Adonis Calls (Best new work from both Opera America and Fort Worth Opera’s Frontiers), this 35-minute homage to the great classical masses traverses universes heretofore untraveled by contemporary choral repertoire.