In December 1900 a lighthouse supply ship called the Hesperus, based in Stromness, Orkney, went on its routine tour of duty to the Flannan Isles in the Outer Hebrides of Scotland.

The lighthouse was empty - all three beds and the table looked as if they had been left in a hurry and the lamp, throughout, was in perfect working order, but the men had disappeared into thin air.

The composer has taken liberties, and changed the name of the lighthouse to Fladda, this being not a usual name in the Western Isles of Scotland, to avoid offence or distress to any relatives of those concerned in the original incident.

The singers were Neil Mackie (tenor), Michael Rippon (baritone) and David Wilson-Johnson (bass-baritone) with The Fires of London conducted by Richard Dufallo.

They relate their voyage to the dark lighthouse and the discovery that the crew was missing, but become increasingly nervous answering the questions put to them by the orchestra's French horn and begin to contradict each other on details.

He proposes a game of crib, and the sanctimonious Arthur leaves to light the lantern, issuing dire predictions as the offstage Voice of the Cards.

Arthur counters with a Salvation Army song on The Golden Calf (brass, clarinet and tambourine) in which he seems personally to glory in the smiting of the Levites.