Obbligato

Pronunciation

• UK IPA: /É’blɪˈɡɑːtəʊ/

Alternative forms

• obligato

Origin

From Italian obbligato.

Full definition of obbligato

Adjective

1. (music) Designating part of a musical piece which is subordinate to the main melody but still essential; designating a crucial instrumental part. from 18th c.

Noun

1. (music) An obbligato section; a prominent countermelody, often written to be played or sung above the principal theme (in a higher pitch range). from 19th c.
• 1953, Raymond Chandler, The Long Goodbye, Penguin 2010, p. 281:The noise of the traffic outside the building on the boulevard made an unmusical obbligato to my thinking.