SEMIQUAVER (Lat. Semifusa; Ital. Semicroma, Biscroma, Semifusa; Germ. Sechzehntel, Sechzehntheil-Note; Fr. Double croche). The sixteenth part of a Semibreve.
The earliest mention of the Semiquaver occurs in the ‘Practica Musicae
’ of Franchinus Gafurius, printed at Milan in 1496. It may be found—though very rarely—in the printed Polyphonic Music of the 16th century, in the form of a black lozenge-headed note, with a double hook, or ; and it is manifestly from this early type that our present figure...