Definitions

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  • noun Plural form of ostinato.

Etymologies

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Examples

  • Musically it unfolds far too sedately, with vocal declamation over smoothly contoured orchestral ostinatos, pitched somewhere between recent Philip Glass and the John Adams of The Death of Klinghoffer, as the default musical idiom.

    Two Boys - review 2011

  • As Madame Mao, Kathleen Kim was a ball of fire, hurling out the stratospheric ostinatos of her tantrum aria "I am the wife of Mao Tse-Tung": She's a seducer and killer who will do anything to cement her position.

    Titans Shaking Hands, But Still Worlds Apart Heidi Waleson 2011

  • Musically it unfolds far too sedately, with vocal declamation over smoothly contoured orchestral ostinatos, pitched somewhere between recent Philip Glass and the John Adams of The Death of Klinghoffer, as the default musical idiom.

    Two Boys - review 2011

  • Never one to resort to simple open chord strums, Matthews spryly plucked circular ostinatos and buoyant chordal riffs to power the band's string of memorable hits.

    Tuesday Tune: 'Satellite' by The Dave Matthews Band 2010

  • There are also hints of Tord Gustavsen's hypnotic ostinatos and moody, jazz-Bach melodic symmetries.

    Anat Fort: And If 2010

  • So it makes sense for Blige to try on some new outfits — in the fantastic Stargate/Ne-Yo jam “I Feel Good,” she flashes the robot-voice ostinatos like a new pair of stilettos.

    Mary J. Blige Music Review | CurveHouse.com 2010

  • All around his steadfast melodies, Davell Crawford was a tsunami of improvisation: surging ostinatos and florid filigree, tremolo chords and keyboard-spanning glissandos, excess as exaltation.

    Jazzfest: More from The Stomp - ArtsBeat Blog - NYTimes.com 2008

  • All around his steadfast melodies, Davell Crawford was a tsunami of improvisation: surging ostinatos and florid filigree, tremolo chords and keyboard-spanning glissandos, excess as exaltation.

    Jazzfest: More from The Stomp - ArtsBeat Blog - NYTimes.com 2008

  • Thomas Riis is the Joseph Negler Professor of Music at the University of Colorado at Boulder, and, as you'll have gathered, his is a scholar's approach -- heavy on the tonic pitches and plagal effects and ostinatos.

    Baby, He's Gold Inside 2008

  • Un-able to resist the seductive ostinatos, many of the as'sembled dignitaries were soon chanting and dancing in place.

    The Howling Stones Foster, Alan Dean, 1946- 1997

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