Charles Levens (1689–1764) followed the usual apprenticeship of a cathedral musician. Born in Marseille, he entered the cathedral of La Major there at the age of 11. At the age of 20, he began working for the various bishoprics of the kingdom: Bordeaux, Toulouse, Vannes and, once again, Toulouse, at Saint-Étienne Cathedral. In 1738, Levens was appointed to the Saint-André Cathedral in Bordeaux, where he remained until the end of his career. A modest, zealous man, kindly and even-tempered, as his employers described him, we can imagine him rigorous in his work and ambitious in his output.

These two Messes des morts, written for Bordeaux’s Saint-André Cathedral, are admirable for their minimal instrumentation and dark instrumental colour, with two bassoons in dialogue with the soloists and choir, as well as their concentrated contemplation. Levens, however, knowing the unusual nature of the orchestra, suggested replacing one or both of the bassoons with cellos. This makes the work adaptable to any medium-sized ensemble: 4 soloists (dessus, haute-contre, haute-taille and basse-taille), a 5-part choir (dessus, hautes-contre, which can be replaced by altos, hautes-tailles, basses-tailles and basses) with a basso continuo consisting of a keyboard, a bowed bass (cello or viola da gamba), two bassoons or two cellos.

Jean-Christophe Maillard, lecturer at the Université de Toulouse Le Mirail and a specialist in the Baroque musette, draws on sources preserved at the Bibliothèque nationale de France (Conservatoire collection). In the preface, after a brief biography of the composer, he presents the particularities of his writing, from a historical and musical perspective, illustrated with facsimiles.