It was at this juncture that Mozart received an unexpected commission in a very singular manner.[32] A stranger, a tall, thin grave-looking man, dressed from head to foot in grey, and calculated from his very appearance to make a striking and weird impression, presented him one day with an anonymous letter begging him with many flattering allusions to his accomplishments as an artist to name his price for composing a Requiem, and the shortest time in which he could undertake to complete it. Mozart acquainted his wife with the circumstance, and assured her that it gave him great satisfaction, since he had long wished to try his powers once more on this species of composition, and to produce a work that both friends and foes might admire and study after his death. The innovations in church music introduced by the Emperor Joseph had been swept away by his successor, and the services of the Church were once more performed after the old fashion. Mozart was anxious therefore to impress upon the Emperor Leopold II., as the supreme arbiter, his familiarity with the orthodox church style, and the present seemed a favourable opportunity for the purpose. After consultation with his wife he announced his readiness to undertake the commission, but without fixing a term for its completion, and naming as his price 50 (some say 100) ducats; whereupon the messenger again appeared, paid the stipulated sum, and promised an addition on the delivery of the finished work. Mozart was enjoined to compose the Requiem according to his own will and pleasure, and to make {COMMISSION FOR THE REQUIEM.} (287) no endeavour to discover his mysterious patron, an endeavour which would certainly prove in vain. It is now proved beyond doubt that Count Franz von Wal-segg of Stuppach was the patron in question, and that he ordered the Requiem in memory of his late wife, Anna Edlen von Flammberg; the mysterious messenger was his steward Leutgeb, whose personal appearance has been described to me by Grillparzer. Count Walsegg was a zealous lover of music, a good flautist, and a moderately good violoncello-player; he had quartet parties every Tuesday and Thursday, and theatrical performances every Sunday, in which his family and retainers took active part. But he was also ambitious to figure as a composer. He used to order quartets from different composers, always anonymously and with the offer of handsome payment;[33] these he would then copy with his own hand, and have the parts written out from this score. After performance he would set the players to guess the composer; they, fully aware of the mystification, invariably flattered his weakness by guessing himself, and he with a deprecating smile would tacitly admit the imputation. This explains the mysterious origin of the Requiem. He rewrote Mozart's score, gave the parts to be copied from his duplicate (with the title of "Requiem composto del Conte Walsegg"), and himself directed the performance of it on December 14, 1793.