obbligato
Americanadjective
noun
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an obbligato part or accompaniment.
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a continuing or persistent subordinate or background motif.
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a subordinate part of a solo.
adjective
noun
Etymology
Origin of obbligato
1715–25; < Italian: bound, obliged < Latin obligātus; see obligate
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
The instrumentation now comprises a 13-player Western ensemble and, especially for the scenes in exotic Bithynia, five obbligato Asian instruments and a full American gamelan, meaning a Javanese-style mostly metallic percussion orchestra made in America.
From Los Angeles Times • Jun. 13, 2017
Colin St. Martin’s elegant flute obbligato and Bradley Tatum’s beautiful, pure sound on the natural horn adorned this pungently colorful performance.
From Washington Post • Feb. 26, 2017
The obbligato viole d’amore parts in the bass arioso “Betrachte, meine Seel’,” were ravishingly played.
From Seattle Times • Mar. 2, 2014
On Antonio Carlos Jobim’s “Inútil Paisagem,” Ms. Spalding sings a duet with Gretchen Parlato, another gifted jazz singer: it’s all bass, hand percussion and their voices, one burbling rhythmic obbligato behind the other.
From New York Times • Aug. 15, 2010
It happened that Paganini did not bring his Violin with him, but borrowed one from a member of the orchestra, and, instead of playing, made a kind of pizzicato obbligato.
From The Violin Its Famous Makers and Their Imitators by Hart, George
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
