Complete Encyclopaedia of Music/A/Alla breve

by John Weeks Moore

Alla breve (I.) is the proper designation of the time of a piece of music, in which the breve is equal to a semibreve in time ; and is to be played in a movement of twice the usual rapidity ; so that a breve is played as fast as a semibreve, a semibreve as fast as a minim, and so on. It is usual, in this mode of time, to prefix to the piece a designation that resembles a C, with a perpendicular line through it, but which is intended to represent a circle bisected ; some-times, also, a 2, or large 2, or 2/1. It is, however, distinct from two-minim time, which is also often called alla breve time, and may be designated by 2, and by C with a perpendicular line through it ; but the value of the note corresponds with the designation. Besides, the expression alla capella is sometimes used ; by which phrase is meant, that though the notes in their proportional magnitude are the same as in the ancient psalm tune, yet they are not to be given in the choral style, as sung by the congregation, but more lively, as is usual in the chapel style.