Obbligato

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

In classical music an obbligato (Italian for obligatory, from Latin word obligare, to oblige) is an elaborate accompaniment part played by a single instrument. Originally indicated a passage of music that was to be played as written, without changes or omissions, as opposed to ad libitum.

In music for voice with instruments, 'obbligato' refers to a prominent instrumental part in an aria or other number. The archetype of the obbligato part is the vocal solo which, with a basso continuo, constitutes the accompaniment of vast numbers of late Baroque arias and recitatives. An especially ornate violin obbligato appears in the Benedictus of Beethoven's Mass in D. Such parts were often less formal in the 19th century, but prominent obbligato writing for flute in particular is not unusual in Romantic opera-for example in the cadenza of the traditional version of the Mad Scene in Lucia di Lammermoor(1835)-and the cello and English horn are often assigned an obbligato role in melancholy contexts(Fuller, David. Obbligato. The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians, Edited by Stanley Sadie. Second Edition, vol. 18 page 253).

An example of a well-known obbligato would be the piccolo obbligato in the trio of John Philip Sousa's march Stars and Stripes Foreveror the corno (horn) obbligato in Gustav Mahler's Symphony No. 5.

This music theory article is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it.