Written between 1919 and 1921, the text for this sixth Janacek opera was written by the composer and based on the stage drama The Storm (1859) by the great Russian realist Alexander Nikolaievich Ostrovsky (1823-1886). The basic story is that of a pure soul, Kát'a, who finds herself caught in a world between the "samodurs" (despotic rulers) or rich reactionaries of the merchant class who have absolute authority over others, and their lackeys and hangers-on—including Kát'a's lover and husband, who accept cruel treatment because they have hope of taking over the power and wealth after the deaths of the tyrants. As in most of Janácek's vocal writing, the vocal lines are built around the melodic curves of speech created by thought and emotion. The words are not forced to conform to symmetrical melodies that would disturb their natural inflection as found in ordinary speech. Janácek, democrat and humanist, before writing the opera even went on a pilgrimage to Hostyn and "spent the night there bitten by insects, experienced a storm, trampled on sleepy pilgrims in the dark. But the masts on the Volga loomed high and the waters of the Volga in the moonlight were as white as the heart and soul of Kát'a." Even written in a tonal style, the clear lines and Slavic colors of Janácek's dynamic style create a unique sound landscape, like the music of Mussorgsky and Borodin and Glinka meeting a twentieth century Czech mind passionately interested in psychology, truth, and human freedom.

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