This destroys an otherwise fascinating proportion in the motet in its ideal complete shape, with a length of 171 breves.
The only point at which this relatively quick motion slows is at the talea's midpoint, which is spanned by a breve-long ligature.
The initial consonance is developed, then 'saturated' by the figures chosen and sung to an unfolding pattern of longs and breves.
The motet has a length of 150 breves.
Its music begins with a rest of three breves as a very downto-earth illustration of the following je ne chant.
Therefore, a breve adjoined to a long does not automatically cause its imperfection.
The contrafact shows how close these little motets were to the secular repertoire (it is only twenty breves long).
If both voices are taken into account, the total is, again, 72 (this time, breves).
