The general course of stylistic development in Dufay's secular music is away from the glib technical brilliance of his heroically energetic early years, towards a much more conservative, refined courtly mode. In this later mode, the main artistic ideals are balance and cautious tastefulness, two things brashly ignored in the early Dufay. Somewhat denser than the other works he was producing at the time, Par le regard can nevertheless be seen as the true diamond among Dufay's late, conservative secular works. His contemporaries must've found the chanson a fine specimen also, as it survives in over 14 different manuscripts, more than any other of his chansons.

Although it can't be dated with absolute precision, the downward change in mood of his pieces after the death of Gilles Binchois in 1460, suggests it was written before he returned to Cambrai in 1458, while he was among those who would've had appreciation for the new depth of refinement he was bringing to the courtly high style. With an utterly conventional text, Par le regard almost comes off as the deliberate tour-de-force of an aged artist making his own statement within an inflexible, esteemed genre.

Emotionally without special depth, sentimental even, Par le regard doesn't hide its melodic wealth from an attentive listener. The discantus line alone is a paragon of balance, absolutely graceful, harmonically slow-moving and miraculously kind to the ear. The piece has, too, an internal economy of melody through which it achieves an audible, gem-like structural integrity. Especially prominent are lovely falling figures shared through the voices, often outlined by a fifth. Basic musical considerations, such as the balancing of high vs low points, are handled with an eloquent, natural perfection. His discantus line is of his best type, too: rather than being peppered with catchy motifs, it just continues on, sweeping out broadly from the bounty of Dufay's melodic genius. Although this part of Dufay's oeuvre has attracted much less attention than his bolder work, it should not be ignored. It is exquisite music, in this case a masterpiece, that can also lend us an accurate ear on the courtly ideals of its composer's time.

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