alla breve

American  

[ah-luh brev-ey, ahl-lah bre-ve] / ˈɑ lə ˈbrɛv eɪ, ˈɑl lɑ ˈbrɛ vɛ /

adverb

Music.

1. using the half note as the basic time unit; 2/2 time.

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alla breve British  

/ ˈælə ˈbreɪvɪ, ˈalla ˈbrɛːve /

noun

1. a musical time signature indicating two or four minims to a bar

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adjective

1. twice as fast as normal

Etymology

Origin of alla breve

1800–10; < Italian: in short time, accelerated. See brief

Example Sentences

He writes upon a sonata Presto, or even Prestissimo and alla breve, and plays it Allegro in 4-4 time.

From Mozart: the man and the artist, as revealed in his own words by Kerst, Friedrich

All the editions are lento with alla breve.

From Chopin : the Man and His Music by Huneker, James

Ask Herbeck in my name not to drag the tempi; the "Gloria," more especially, must be taken the more rapidly as it proceeds—the time to be beaten throughout alla breve.

From Letters of Franz Liszt -- Volume 2 from Rome to the End by Bache, Constance

He indicates alla breve with 88 to the half.

From Chopin : the Man and His Music by Huneker, James

Mikuli's metronome is 144 to the quarter, Von Bulow's, 114; Klindworth's, the same as Mikuli, and Riemann is 72 to the half, with an alla breve.

From Chopin : the Man and His Music by Huneker, James