Lysenko was reputedly a descendant of the 17th century Cossack leader Vovgura Lys, so the Taras Bulba's story may have had a special significance to him.[4] Shortly after completing it he played the score to Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky, who reportedly "listened to the whole opera with rapt attention, from time to time voicing approval and admiration. He particularly liked the passages in which national, Ukrainian, touches were most vivid... Tchaikovsky embraced Lysenko and congratulated him on his talented composition."