When World War I broke out Janáček was 60. He was well known in Moravia, but hardly known in other countries. His compositions from the war years include "Taras Bulba" which is a work for orchestra which describes a story by the Russian writer Gogol. He wrote a short, patriotic opera to follow Mr Brouček’s adventures. It was about a landlord from Prague who finds himself in the middle of the 15th century Hussite wars.