Meaning & use
obligato
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An accompanying musical part, often for a single instrument, that is essential to a piece and not meant to be omitted.
See it in a sentence
The violin obligato wove gracefully around the soprano's melody.
The composer added a flute obligato to enrich the second movement.
A note on using this word
Obligato is simply a variant spelling of "obbligato," the more common Italian musical term, both derived from the Latin word for "obligatory."
Words with a similar meaning
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