Definition of "obligato" [‖Ob•li•ga•to]

• Variant of obbligato. (adjective)

American Heritage(R) Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright (c) 2011 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

• "These songs need, indeed, no piano accompaniment or violin obligato."
• "It's not a coincidence that most of my Deserted Island operas are ones where the voice is just another instrument in the orchestral texture or as Salome was described: a tone poem with voice obligato."
• "Ms. Wilson's current ensemble is further graced by the often astounding playing as on "St. James Infirmary Blues" of Swiss harmonica virtuoso Gregoire Maret , whose tone suggests the love child of an accordion and a conch shell, and whose playing here fills the role of both a horn obligato and a backup vocalist."