View source for Alla breve

{{short description|Time signature in Western music notation}}
{{Distinguish|Double-time|¢}}
{{redirect|Cut time|Coordinated Universal Time|Coordinated Universal Time}}
{{Italic title}}
[[File:Examples of cut-time and 2-2 notation.jpg|thumb|Examples of time signatures for ''alla breve'']]
[[File:Examples of common-time and 4-4 notation.jpg|thumb|Examples of time signatures for common time]]
'''''Alla breve''''' {{IPA|it|alla ˈbrɛːve|}}{{snd}}also known as '''cut time''' or '''cut common time'''{{snd}}is a [[Meter (music)|musical meter]] notated by the [[time signature]] symbol {{music|cut-time}} (a C) with a vertical line through it, which is the equivalent of {{music|time|2|2}}.<ref>Randel (2003), pp. 33, 241.</ref> The term is [[Italian language|Italian]] for "on the breve", originally meaning that the beat was counted on the [[double whole note|breve]] (double whole note).<ref>LilyPond{{snd}}Music Glossary v2.18.2 (http://lilypond.org/doc/v2.18/Documentation/music-glossary/alla-breve)</ref>

''Alla breve'' is a "[[Meter (music)#Simple meter|simple]]-[[duple meter]] with a half-note [[pulse (music)|pulse]]".<ref name="Duckworth">Duckworth, William (2009). ''A Creative Approach to Music Fundamentals'', p. 38. {{ISBN|0-495-57220-9}}.</ref>  The note denomination that represents one beat is the [[minim (music)|minim]] or half-note.  There are two of these per bar, so that the time signature {{music|time|2|2}} may be interpreted as "two minim beats per bar". Alternatively this is read as two beats per measure, where the half note gets the beat.

The name [[Time signature#common time|"common time"]] refers to {{music|time|4|4}}, which has four beats to the bar, each of a [[quarter note]] (or crotchet).

==Modern usage==
In contemporary use, ''alla breve'' suggests a fairly quick [[tempo]]. Thus, it is used frequently for military [[march (music)|marches]]. From about 1600 to 1900, its meaning with regard to tempo varied, so it cannot always be taken to mean a quick tempo.<ref name=Randel33>Randel (2003), p. 33</ref>  Using ''alla breve'' helps the musician read notes of short duration more cleanly with fewer beats.

==Historical usage==
The term ''alla breve'' is derived from the system of [[mensural notation|mensural or proportional notation]], in use prior to 1600, in which note values (and their symbols) were related according to the ratios 2:1 or 3:1. Originally it refers to a ''tactus'' or metrical pulse (now commonly referred to as the "[[Beat (music)|beat]]") on the [[whole note]] (''semibreve'') exchanged for that on the [[double whole note]] (''breve''), in contexts when the ''breve'' is twice as long as the ''semibreve'' (''proportio dubla'').<ref name=Randel33/>

{|
| Modern notation{{Space|10}}
| [[Image:ModernBreveAndSemibreve.svg]]
|-
| White notation<br />(15th–16th centuries){{Space|10}}
|[[Image:MensuralBreveSemibreve.svg]]
|-
| Black notation<br />(13th–15th centuries){{Space|10}}
| [[Image:BlackMensuralBreveSemibreve.svg]]
|}

Early music notation in the West was developed by members of Christian religious orders, resulting in theological associations between music, its notation, and the terminology used to describe its form. Thus music in triple time was called ''tempus perfectum'', owing to an association with the [[Holy Trinity]] and represented by the "perfect" circle, which has no beginning or end.

Music in duple time was conversely called ''tempus imperfectum,'' of which the symbol was the broken circle, ''{{music|common-time}}'', which is still used{{snd}}although it has come to mean {{music|time|4|4}}, or "common time", today. When cut through by a vertical line "{{music|cut-time}}", it means {{music|time|2|2}}{{snd}}"cut common time," or alla breve.<ref>Novello, John (1986). ''The Contemporary Keyboardist'', p. 37. {{ISBN|0-634-01091-3}}</ref>

The use of the vertical line or stroke in a musical graphical symbol, as practiced in the Middle Ages and the Renaissance, and now referred to by the modern term of "cut time", did not always have the same meaning as ''alla breve''. It sometimes had other functions, including non-mensural ones.<ref>"Cut time" in Sadie (2001).</ref>

==Example==
The following is an example with the same rhythm notated in {{music|time|2|2}} and in {{music|time|4|4}}:
{|align="center"
|-
|[[File:Cut time as 4-4.png|thumb|400px|center|Rhythm in {{music|time|2|2}} followed by the same rhythm notated in {{music|time|4|4}}. Note there are more eighth and sixteenth notes in the {{music|time|4|4}} version versus eighth and quarter notes in the {{music|time|2|2}} version, one of the reasons {{music|time|2|2}} is typically easier to read at faster tempos.<ref>Schonbrun, Marc (2005). ''The Everything Reading Music Book'', p. 56. {{ISBN|1-59337-324-4}}.</ref>]]
|{{listen
 | filename=Audio example 2-2 vs 4-4.ogg
 | title=Audio of the example
 | description=Rhythm in {{music|time|2|2}} followed by the same rhythm notated in {{music|time|4|4}}
 | pos=left}}
|}
<!-- Is the audio example correct? There is no indication of halving the tempo (i.e. doubling the duration of notes) in the rhythm notation. I'm not an expert, but I guess that if that were the intention, it should be noted by using either the term L'istesso, or the corresponding metronome mark. -->

==Notes==
{{reflist}}

==Sources==
* Randel, Don Michael (2003). ''Harvard dictionary of music'', fourth edition. Cambridge, Massachusetts: The Belknap Press of Harvard University Press. {{ISBN|0-674-01163-5}}.
* Sadie, Stanley; John Tyrrell, eds. (2001). ''The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians'', 2nd edition. New York: Grove's Dictionaries. {{ISBN|1-56159-239-0}}.
* Novello, John (1986). The Contemporary Keyboardist, Hal Leonard Corporation, {{ISBN|0-634-01091-3}}.

[[Category:Musical notation]]
[[Category:Patterns]]
[[Category:Rhythm and meter]]