Princess Maria Josepha Hermengilde Esterházy de Galantha (née von Liechtenstein, 13 April, 1768 — 8 August, 1845) was the daughter of Franz Josef I of Liechtenstein.
Like her husband Maria was a patron of artists, and especially of Joseph Haydn, who from 1796 to 1802 was commissioned to write a yearly Mass to be performed on her nameday (8 September, the Nativity of the BVM[1]).
Thus originated the Heiligmesse (1796), Paukenmesse (1797), Nelsonmesse (1798), Theresienmesse (1799), Schöpfungsmesse (1801) and Harmoniemesse (1802).
For her 1807 nameday Ludwig van Beethoven composed his Mass in C major, op.
111 (1810) One final Mass was written by Jan Ladislav Dussek, Missa Solomnelle in G major, C. 256 (1811).