Binchois' conception of melody seems to revolve around anticipation of, and delight in, melisma, so that they occur with an unusually perfect ease and rightness. Even in the music of Binchois' now-rival for posthumous glory, Dufay, melisma, as splendid as its usage is, is usually like an interruption (welcomed) of the main melodic thought; parenthetical, or even an idea superimposed upon the principal one.

In Binchois such is not the case. Listen, for example to the melisma, here on "u" of the last "lune" of line one. Part of this effect of flowing ease comes from a series of slight dissonances—in others' music they might well go unnoticed, but in that of Binchois, so calm and clear, they make the whole surface scintillate and gently propel the discantus forward. The music sounds like it is writing itself.

One thing that Binchois lacks is a ready-made slot in musical history—highest honors are generally afforded to outstanding composers who are extraordinarily bold and therefore easy to write into a historical continuum. Binchois, gentle, introverted, is therefore now compared unfavorably to Dufay, although his music is to some the more beautiful.

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