Definitions
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
- adj. Not to be left out; indispensable. Used of an accompaniment that is an integral part of a piece.
- n. An obbligato accompaniment.
Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia
- In music, indispensable; so important that it cannot be omitted: especially used of accompaniments of independent value.
- n. An accompaniment, whether for a solo or a concerted instrument, which is of independent importance; especially, an instrumental solo accompanying a vocal piece.
- n. Also spelled obligato.
WordNet 3.0
- n. a part of the score that must be performed without change or omission
- n. a persistent but subordinate motif
Etymologies
- From Italian obbligato. (Wiktionary)
- Italian, past participle of obbligare, to obligate, from Latin obligāre, to oblige; see oblige. (American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition)
Examples
“Recitative comes in two main forms, semplice or secco, which comprises most of the dialogue, and accompagnato or obbligato, which is reserved for passages requiring particular dramatic emphasis, though fully spoken parts (parlante), were not uncommon, particularly in Mozart.”
'An assiduous frequenter of the Italian opera': Shelley’s Prometheus Unbound and the opera buffa
“ The wind itself answered in a kind of obbligato descant: The Witch is dead!”
“Con gli attori ho avuto un ottimo rapporto ... ad eccezione del "giovane" scelto, obbligato e protetto dal figlio di Lombardo (un disastro)!”
“The outstanding soloist in the concerto was 26-year-old Alec Frank-Gemmill, playing a valveless instrument, as were the obbligato horn section, conjuring misty overtones and harmonics, mellow in mood as well as raw.”
The Guardian: LPO/Jurowski; Betrothal in a Monastery; Psappha ensemble; SCO/Ticciati – review
“If you want to sample his singing, try "Ich habe genug" on his Bach cantatas CD, with its quietly anguished oboe obbligato.”
The Guardian: CBSO, Stephen Hough/Nelsons; Bamberg Symphony Orchestra/Nott – review
“And since it's rare that a celebrity performer takes on any of these challenges, I'd like to applaud violinist Hilary Hahn for her latest recording in which she joins forces with two of the world's most artistic singers in a dozen Bach arias with violin obbligato.”
“The national anthem at last week's home opener at Fenway Park — performed by a Boston Pops contingent — included the now de rigueur obbligato of a military jet flyover.”
“A gentle obbligato to the life and death struggle in Lewis's study?”
“Then they heard a gentleman sing with her and play a violin obbligato.”
“His last name gave him some access, but the obbligato of his career, as he describes it: "A famous father means that in order to prove yourself you have to work three times harder than the guy who comes in off the street with a song to sing.”
Lists
These user-created lists contain the word ‘obbligato’.
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250 Cherry-Picked Words
Juicy words for the intermediate and advanced speller
consomme, miniaceous, nankeen, smaragdine, stramineous, vitellary, allemande, beguine, bransle, charabanc, margaritaceous, chaconne and 238 more...
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Logolepsy
"Luciferous Logolepsy is a collection of over 9,000 obscure English words. Though the definition of an 'English' word might seem to be straightforward, it is not. There exist so many adopted, deriv...
Anschauung, Areopagus, Argus, Briarean, Dei gratia, Dei judicium, Deo volente, Duecento, Foehn, Geflugelte Worte, Gegenschein, Hakenkreuz and 9230 more...
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All The Words
I enjoy collecting words, for I have no fear of them ever running out.
anacoluthon, defenestration, hypnopomp, hypnagogue, idioglossia, panopticon, tatterdemalion, abalone, caltrop, miasma, paroxysm, smalt and 491 more...
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ktrey's wordlist
Words that I like.
Many may be lexicographically impotent due to a lack of citations and definition. Hopefully I'll be able to rectify this eventually.velleity, dispositive, bloviate, bibulous, fungible, concupiscence, avuncular, carnaptious, thrawn, hypocoristic, diegesis, lagniappe and 928 more...
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Musical words
nocturne, flat, sharp, waltz, etude, opera, soprano, alto, tenor, bass, cello, flute and 131 more...
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Wordie/Wordnik Curio Cabinet
Oddments culled from my "main" lists that belong in a display cabinet of their own, plus sundry other curiosities. :-)
zeugma, ziggurat, xiphoid, xeric, whizgigging, whangdoodle, viviparous, vivific, vinolent, verjuice, vellicate, velleity and 1193 more...
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Adjectival Arcana
A roster of adjectives that infrequently surface in typical conversation and writing. Many are dredged from scientific or other technical jargon or sieved from examples of disused archaic forms.
unitegmic, acaulescent, reticuloendothelial, ingressive, uniate, acanthopterygian, ossific, epiphysial, perivisceral, acœlomatous, cestoid, acælomate and 7756 more...
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bobobox's Words
list, unilineally, dromedary, obbligato, gesticulate, cacophony, phrenetic, glom, snuff, metonymy, anemone, whist and 2 more...
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TiEsQue's Words
verisimilitude, stint, curuscatging, badinage, tippling, lubricious, titular, ersatz, taciturn, lugubrious, anomie, putative and 80 more...
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melodious, sexy words
as the title says
rhythm, harmony, sound, a cappella, accelerando, accent, crescendo, espressione, ostinato, timbre, improvisation, duet and 7 more...
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fun ones
fun to say or fun in meaning
sizzard, clou, matutolagnia, grok, xiphoid, cwm, cattywampus, scroop, loblolly, katzenjammer, sphygmus, forfex and 68 more...
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cree8teevgrl's list
words I like
Tweets
Looking for tweets for obbligato.
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