Obligato, obligato |

ital., from lat. obligatus – obligatory, indispensable

1) Part of the instrument in music. work, which cannot be omitted and must be performed without fail. The term is used together with the designation of the instrument, to which it refers to the party; for example, violino obligato is a mandatory part of the violin, etc. In one production sometimes happens. “obligate” parties. O. parts can be different in their meaning – from important, but still included in the accompaniment, and to solo, giving concerts along with the main. solo part. At 18 and early. 19th centuries sonatas for solo instrument with piano accompaniment. (clavichord, harpsichord) were often designated as sonatas for piano. etc. with accompaniment of O.’s instrument (for example, O.’s violin). The solo concert parts of O., sounding in a duet, tercet, etc., are more common. from the main solo part. In operas, oratorios, cantatas of the 17th-18th centuries. often there are arias, and sometimes duets for voice (voices), concert instrument (instruments) O. and orchestra. A number of such pieces are contained, for example, in Bach’s Mass in h minor. The term “O.” opposed to the term ad libitum; in the past, however, it has often been erroneously used in this sense as well. Therefore, when performing ancient muses. works, it is always necessary to decide in what sense the term “O.” is used in them.

2) In combination with the word “accompaniment” (“O’s accompaniment”, Italian l’accompagnamento obligato, German Obligates Akkompagnement), in contrast to the general bass, the fully written accompaniment to cl. music prod. This applies primarily to the clavier part in the production. for a solo instrument or voice and clavier, as well as for accompanying main. melodies to “accompanying” voices in chamber and orc. essays. In solo works for strings. keyboard instrument or organ, chamber and orc. In music, the division of voices into “main” and “accompanying” on the scale of the entire production, as a rule, turns out to be impossible: even if the leading melody lends itself to isolation, it constantly passes from voice to voice, to chamber and orc. music – from instrument to instrument; in development sections, the melody is often distributed between decomp. voices or instruments “in parts”. Accompaniment O. developed in the work of the founders of the Viennese classic. schools of W. A. ​​Mozart and J. Haydn. Its emergence is associated with the growing importance of accompaniment in music. prod., with its melodic. and polyphonic. saturation, with the growth of the independence of each of his voices, in general – with his individualization. In the field of song, the accompaniment of the O. as an important part of the whole, sometimes not inferior in value to the wok. parties created by F. Schubert, R. Schumann, X. Wolf. The traditions laid down by them in this area retain their significance in tonal music, although the very term “accompaniment of O.” out of use. In atonal music, incl. dodecaphone, which provides for the complete equality of all voices, the very concept of “accompaniment” has lost its former meaning.

3) In the old polyphonic. O. music (eg, сon-trapunto obligato, canon obligato, etc.) meant sections in which the author, fulfilling his obligation (hence the given meaning of the term), strictly follows the rules for creating definitions. polyphonic form (counterpoint, canon, etc.).