Obbligato
Encyclopedia
In classical music
obbligato usually describes a musical line that is in some way indispensable in performance. Its opposite is the marking ad libitum
. It can also be used, more specifically, to indicate that a passage of music was to be played exactly as written, or only by the specified instrument, without changes or omissions. The word is borrowed from Italian (an adjective meaning fixed; from Latin obligatus p.p. of obligare, to oblige; the spelling obligato is not acceptable). The word can stand on its own, in English, as a noun, or appear as a modifier in a noun phrase (e.g. Organ obbligato).
's 1780 Symphonies "mit zwölf obligaten Stimmen" ("with twelve obbligato parts") by which Bach was referring to the independent woodwind parts he was using for the first time. These parts were also obbligato in the sense of indispensable.
, or ad lib., or simply "Optional", since ad lib. may have a wide variety of interpretations.
in the third movement of "Embryons desséchés
" (Desiccated embryos), where the obbligato consists of around twenty F-major chords played at fortissimo
(this is satirising Beethoven's symphonic style)
Classical music
Classical music is the art music produced in, or rooted in, the traditions of Western liturgical and secular music, encompassing a broad period from roughly the 11th century to present times...
obbligato usually describes a musical line that is in some way indispensable in performance. Its opposite is the marking ad libitum
Ad libitum
Ad libitum is Latin for "at one's pleasure"; it is often shortened to "ad lib" or "ad-lib"...
. It can also be used, more specifically, to indicate that a passage of music was to be played exactly as written, or only by the specified instrument, without changes or omissions. The word is borrowed from Italian (an adjective meaning fixed; from Latin obligatus p.p. of obligare, to oblige; the spelling obligato is not acceptable). The word can stand on its own, in English, as a noun, or appear as a modifier in a noun phrase (e.g. Organ obbligato).
Independence
Obbligato includes the idea of independence, as in C.P.E. BachCarl Philipp Emanuel Bach
right|250pxCarl Philipp Emanuel Bach was a German Classical period musician and composer, the fifth child and second son of Johann Sebastian Bach and Maria Barbara Bach...
's 1780 Symphonies "mit zwölf obligaten Stimmen" ("with twelve obbligato parts") by which Bach was referring to the independent woodwind parts he was using for the first time. These parts were also obbligato in the sense of indispensable.
Continuo
In connection with a keyboard part in the baroque period, obbligato has a very specific meaning: it describes a functional change from a basso continuo part (in which the player decided how to fill in the harmonies unobtrusively) to a fully written part of equal importance to the main melody part.Contradictory usage
A later use has the contradictory meaning of optional, indicating that a part was not obligatory. A difficult passage in a concerto might be furnished by the editor with an easier alternative called the obbligato. Or a work may have a part for one or more solo instruments, marked obbligato, that are decorative rather than essential; the piece is complete and can be performed without the added part(s). The traditional term for such a part is ad libitumAd libitum
Ad libitum is Latin for "at one's pleasure"; it is often shortened to "ad lib" or "ad-lib"...
, or ad lib., or simply "Optional", since ad lib. may have a wide variety of interpretations.
Modern-day usage
The term has fallen out of use by modern-day practitioners, as composers, performers and audiences alike have come to see the musical text as paramount in decisions of musical execution. As a result, everything is now seen as 'obbligato' unless explicitly specified otherwise in the score. It is still used to denote an orchestral piece with an instrumental solo part that stands out, but is not as prominent as in a solo concerto, as in Bloch's Concerto Grosso mentioned below. The term is now used mainly to discuss music of the past. One amusing usage, however, is that by Erik SatieErik Satie
Éric Alfred Leslie Satie was a French composer and pianist. Satie was a colourful figure in the early 20th century Parisian avant-garde...
in the third movement of "Embryons desséchés
Embryons desséchés
Embryons desséchés is a piano composition by Erik Satie, composed in the summer of 1913. The composition consists of three little "movements", each taking about two to three minutes to play.-The music:...
" (Desiccated embryos), where the obbligato consists of around twenty F-major chords played at fortissimo
Dynamics (music)
In music, dynamics normally refers to the volume of a sound or note, but can also refer to every aspect of the execution of a given piece, either stylistic or functional . The term is also applied to the written or printed musical notation used to indicate dynamics...
(this is satirising Beethoven's symphonic style)
Explicit instances
- J.S. BachJohann Sebastian BachJohann Sebastian Bach was a German composer, organist, harpsichordist, violist, and violinist whose sacred and secular works for choir, orchestra, and solo instruments drew together the strands of the Baroque period and brought it to its ultimate maturity...
used Organ obbligato to show at a glance the importance of the organ part (in for example cantata Wer sich selbst erhöhet, der soll erniedriget werden, BWV 47Wer sich selbst erhöhet, der soll erniedriget werden, BWV 47Wer sich selbst erhöhet, der soll erniedriget werden , BWV 47, is a church cantata by Johann Sebastian Bach...
and cantata Gott ist mein König, BWV 71). - Beethoven's Duo for viola and cello, WoO 32, is subtitled "mit zwei obligaten Augengläsern" ("with two [pairs of] obbligato eyeglasses") which seems to refer to the necessity, at the first performance, of spectacles for both Beethoven and his cellist.
- Heinrich SchützHeinrich SchützHeinrich Schütz was a German composer and organist, generally regarded as the most important German composer before Johann Sebastian Bach and often considered to be one of the most important composers of the 17th century along with Claudio Monteverdi...
's "Benedicam Dominum in omni tempore" in Symphoniae sacrae, i, 1629 for soprano, tenor, bass and continuo with obbligato cornetto, o violino. - John Philip SousaJohn Philip SousaJohn Philip Sousa was an American composer and conductor of the late Romantic era, known particularly for American military and patriotic marches. Because of his mastery of march composition, he is known as "The March King" or the "American March King" due to his British counterpart Kenneth J....
's march Stars and Stripes Forever contains a piccolo obbligato in its grandioso. - Ernest BlochErnest BlochErnest Bloch was a Swiss-born American composer.-Life:Bloch was born in Geneva and began playing the violin at age 9. He began composing soon afterwards. He studied music at the conservatory in Brussels, where his teachers included the celebrated Belgian violinist Eugène Ysaÿe...
's 1925 Concerto Grosso No. 1 for string orchestra with piano obbligato is a neoclassical composition with 20th-Century modal harmoniesHarmonyIn music, harmony is the use of simultaneous pitches , or chords. The study of harmony involves chords and their construction and chord progressions and the principles of connection that govern them. Harmony is often said to refer to the "vertical" aspect of music, as distinguished from melodic...
. - Malcolm ArnoldMalcolm ArnoldSir Malcolm Henry Arnold, CBE was an English composer and symphonist.Malcolm Arnold began his career playing trumpet professionally, but by age thirty his life was devoted to composition. He was ranked with Benjamin Britten as one of the most sought-after composers in Britain...
's A Grand, Grand Overture, Op. 57 (1956) is a 20th-century parody of the late 19th century concert overture, and contains obbligato parts for four rifleRifleA rifle is a firearm designed to be fired from the shoulder, with a barrel that has a helical groove or pattern of grooves cut into the barrel walls. The raised areas of the rifling are called "lands," which make contact with the projectile , imparting spin around an axis corresponding to the...
s, three HooverThe Hoover CompanyThe Hoover Company started out as an American floor care manufacturer based in North Canton, Ohio. It also established a major base in the United Kingdom and for most of the early-and-mid-20th century, it dominated the electric vacuum cleaner industry, to the point where the "hoover" brand name...
vacuum cleanerVacuum cleanerA vacuum cleaner, commonly referred to as a "vacuum," is a device that uses an air pump to create a partial vacuum to suck up dust and dirt, usually from floors, and optionally from other surfaces as well. The dirt is collected by either a dustbag or a cyclone for later disposal...
s (two uprights in B, one horizontal with detachable sucker in C), and an electric floor polisher in E - Benjamin BrittenBenjamin BrittenEdward Benjamin Britten, Baron Britten, OM CH was an English composer, conductor, and pianist. He showed talent from an early age, and first came to public attention with the a cappella choral work A Boy Was Born in 1934. With the premiere of his opera Peter Grimes in 1945, he leapt to...
's 1958 Nocturne for tenor, 7 obligato instruments & stringsNocturne for tenor, 7 obligato instruments & stringsNocturne for tenor, seven obbligato instruments and strings, Op. 60, is a song cycle by Benjamin Britten. Premiered in the Leeds Town Hall at the centenary Leeds Festival on 16 October 1958 by Peter Pears and the BBC Symphony Orchestra under Rudolf Schwarz, it is his fourth and final...
in which the tenor soloist is accompanied by one or more obbligato instruments in each of the eight movements (apart from the first)
Implicit instances
- Trumpet obbligato in J.S. Bach's cantata Jauchzet Gott in allen Landen! BWV 51
- A horn obbligato during Sifare's aria, Lungi da te, mio bene, in W.A. MozartWolfgang Amadeus MozartWolfgang Amadeus Mozart , baptismal name Johannes Chrysostomus Wolfgangus Theophilus Mozart , was a prolific and influential composer of the Classical era. He composed over 600 works, many acknowledged as pinnacles of symphonic, concertante, chamber, piano, operatic, and choral music...
's opera Mitridate (1770). - In Mozart's Die Entführung aus dem Serail (1782) there are obbligati for flute, oboe, violin and cello.
- In Mozart's La clemenza di Tito (1791) there are two arias with obbligato clarinet; bassett clarinet obbligato Parto, ma tu ben mio (sung by Sesto) and basset-horn obbligato Non piu di fiori (sung by Vitellia).
- Piano obbligato in Mozart's concert aria "Ch'io mi scordi di te? … Non temer, amato beneCh'io mi scordi di te?Ch'io mi scordi di te? ... Non temer, amato bene, K. 505, is a concert aria by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart for soprano, piano obbligato and orchestra, composed 1786 in Vienna; it is often considered to be one of his greatest compositions in this genre.-History:...
" (K. 505). - Horn obbligato aria Abscheulicher!/Komm Hoffnung in Beethoven's opera Fidelio.
- An especially ornate violin obbligato appears in the Benedictus of Ludwig van Beethoven's Missa solemnis.
- Corno (horn) obbligato in Gustav MahlerGustav MahlerGustav Mahler was a late-Romantic Austrian composer and one of the leading conductors of his generation. He was born in the village of Kalischt, Bohemia, in what was then Austria-Hungary, now Kaliště in the Czech Republic...
's Symphony No. 5Symphony No. 5 (Mahler)The Symphony No. 5 in C sharp minor by Gustav Mahler was composed in 1901 and 1902, mostly during the summer months at Mahler's cottage at Maiernigg. Among its most distinctive features are the funereal trumpet solo that opens the work and the frequently performed Adagietto.The musical canvas and... - 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)
- Bass clarinetBass clarinetThe bass clarinet is a musical instrument of the clarinet family. Like the more common soprano B clarinet, it is usually pitched in B , but it plays notes an octave below the soprano B clarinet...
obbligato in the third movement of Morton GouldMorton GouldMorton Gould was an American composer, conductor, arranger, and pianist.Born in Richmond Hill, New York, Gould was recognized early as a child prodigy with abilities in improvisation and composition. His first composition was published at age six...
's "Latin American Symphonette" - RavelMaurice RavelJoseph-Maurice Ravel was a French composer known especially for his melodies, orchestral and instrumental textures and effects...
's Daphnis and Chloe Suites may be performed without the chorus parts and are often recorded in this form, an example of the contradictory usage above.