Topography of Light (The Lighthouse) is a chamber opera in four scenes for tenor, electronics and multitracked voices. The opera begins after a traumatic love affair in the life of a lighthouse keeper. Trapped between his obsession with duty and his desire for passion, freedom and love, his life is in crisis. Apparently, in the throes of romance, he neglected his duties causing a shipwreck. Now his lover is gone, but the details are left to our imagination. Did she leap from the tower? Was she helped with a push? Or did she leave, breaking his heart? Could this be a struggle of opposing forces within his own mind? Only one thing is certain. Each night, alone in the tower, he is tormented by voices which careen on the wind and waves. In the opening scene, while obsessively polishing his mirrors, he sings of "duty" in a futile attempt to stop the nightmare. In scene two, his psyche is shattered by the pitiless voices. A vision of Santa Barbara, the Goddess of Lightning, in the night sky both frightens and reassures him in scene three. In the final scene, "Unfinished Dreams", he begins to sort out his scattered wits. Mr. Alioto performs all voices, which increase to eight in scene II, by using electronic multitracking and digital audio computer recording.