For Vitry the breve could be divided, for an entire composition, or section of one, into groups of two or three smaller semibreves.
12.
The technique of notating complex groups of short notes by sequences of multiple semibreves was later used more systematically in the notation of Italian Trecento music.
13.
Alternatively, an annotation defining the mapping scheme may be provided over the staff, e . g ., " alt = semibreve = ".
14.
Thus, what was originally the shortest of all note values used, the semibreve, has become the longest note used routinely today, the whole note.
15.
However, he did not yet define these as separate smaller hierarchy levels ( minim, semiminim etc . ), but simply as variable numbers of semibreves.
16.
The four lines of the " cantus firmus " in the phrygian mode of G are played in the top soprano part on one manual in semibreve beats.
17.
For instance " octonaria " and " duodenaria " place eight and twelve minims in a breve respectively divided into two or three " major " semibreves.
18.
Of most practical importance were the subdivisions from the breve downwards, as by that time the semibreves rather than the breves had taken over the function of the basic counting unit.
19.
Note that the dotted notes can cross the bar line in the old notation; in the modern day we'd tie a whole note ( semibreve ) to a half note.
20.
Another special form of coloration was that applied to a group of a single semibreve and a following minim, called " minor color " ( ex . [ d ] ).
