adv. phr. Mus. [It., = according to the BREVE.] (See quot.)
1806. Callcott, Mus. Gram., iii. 30. The barred Semicircle is used to denote a quicker Movement, and is called Alla Breve.
1879. E. Prout, in Grove, Dict. Mus., Alla Breve, originally a species of time in which every bar contained a breve or four minims; hence its name … Modern alla breve time simply differs from ordinary common time by being always beaten or counted with two minims in the bar, and therefore is really quick common time.
