Volume 2 opens at the the outbreak of the First World War and at the time of Janácek's lowest ebb. Within two years, however, his fortunes were transformed by the Prague production of

Jenufa This led to international fame and fortune and to the magnificent creative flowering in which the elderly composer wrote most of his best-known works. His personal life was affected by his public affair with Gabriela Horvátová and his friendship with Kamila Stösslová, whom he saw as the inspiration for many of his late works.