This ballade was likely composed while Dufay was in Rimini serving the illustrious and cursed Malatesta family. It is connected musically to an isorhythmic motet of the same period, O sancta Sebastiane, whose text is a prayer for release from the ravages of the plague. As both the ballade and the isorhythmic motet were at the time ceremonial forms, specific occasions must have existed for the composition of each, but those occasions have yet to be identified. The music of Resvelons nous is directly derived from the motet. Taking a canon between the tenor and contratenor that results from the isorhythmic operations of the piece, the canon is repeated four times to accompany a florid discantus that itself shows clear isomelic relation to the motet.

Other examples of Dufay cannibalizing his own work exist, such as the ballade Adieu ces bons vins de Lannoys, which is a reworking, and perfection, of a Gloria setting of his called de Quaremiaux. Scholars mainly use these correspondences to point out the unusually great continuity in Dufay's music. No matter the genre, he conceived his music in the same terms, only modifying, or diverting the flow of his inspiration exactly as much as the forms demanded.

The final effects, however, must be admitted to be quite distinct; hearing an isorhythmic motet and hearing a ballade are utterly different experiences, perhaps analogous, in the case of Dufay's music, to the difference between a film trailer and a short film in itself. The medium may remain consistent, along with key stylistic features and even content, but the narrative development, which largely defines the experience, is anything but the same. In this case, we have a piece fairly archaic in its musical syntax that is interesting most of all for its careful, deliberate formal design.

© All Music Guide