___ breve (2/2 time)

Once upon a time, there was a grand orchestra preparing for their big concert. The conductor was meticulously going through the scores, double-checking that every note was correctly written. But as he was scanning the sheet music, he realized that something was missing.

He frantically searched through the various pieces, but there was no sign of the time signature. How could they possibly practice without knowing how many beats each measure had? Just as the conductor was about to lose all hope, he noticed a small note scribbled in the corner of the page. It said, “Alla Breve – 2/2 time.”

The conductor breathed a sigh of relief and quickly explained to the orchestra what Alla Breve meant. Everyone knew they had to play twice as fast, with only two beats in a measure. And so they practiced, and practiced, and practiced some more. The big night finally arrived and the audience was awed by their performance in perfect 2/2 time.

From that day forward, every musician knew that Alla Breve meant 2/2 time. It had saved the day for that grand orchestra, and its significance had been etched into the history of music forever. And so, whenever a crossword puzzle asked for the musical term for 2/2 beat, the answer was always: Alla.