Leoš Janáček based his final opera on his own libretto after Dostoevsky’s Memoirs from the House of the Dead. He wrote, drafted and revised the opera in full score during 1927 - 1928. He then had it copied out by two of his long-established copyists (Václav Sedláček and Jaroslav Kulhánek), who shared the work between them. Janáček supervised the copying and the correction of their score, making many changes and additions which resulted in new pages having to be inserted. Then he began a final check through the score, adding extra doublings, dynamics and other details in his own hand. He completed Acts 1 and 2 in this way, but died before he had checked Act 3. In other words, except for a final check of Act 3 and any last-minute alterations Janáček might have made at rehearsals, From the House of the Dead is no less finished than any other Janáček opera.