Count Franz von Walsegg (January 17, 1763 – November 11, 1827) was an aristocrat, living in Stuppach Castle near
Gloggnitz, who is best remembered for having commissioned a
requiem mass from
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart in 1791 following the death of his twenty-year-old wife Anna (the grieving count, only 28 himself at the time, would never remarry). A fellow
Freemason and amateur musician, Walsegg had a penchant for commissioning works from composers of the day and then passing them off as his own in private performances. In his account of the commission of the requiem mass from Mozart,
Anton Herzog states:
Although Mozart died before completing the
requiem,
Constanze Mozart arranged for several other composers, most notably
Franz Xaver Süssmayr, to complete the work in order to gain the remainder of the sum Walsegg had promised.