Definition of "obbligato"

obbligato

/ɒblɪˈɡɑːtəʊ/

noun
plural obbligatos or obbligati
1. (music) An obbligato section; a prominent countermelody, often written to be played or sung above the principal theme (in a higher pitch range).
  Quotations
  The noise of the traffic outside the building on the boulevard made an unmusical obbligato to my thinking.
  1953, Raymond Chandler, The Long Goodbye, Penguin, published 2010, page 281