: a musical figure repeated persistently at the same pitch throughout a composition compare imitation, sequence
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Before the fretting reaches a head, one of Barbieri’s backing oscillators creeps forward into a nimble major-key ostinato that sounds like it was lifted from a Lorenzo Senni daydream, transforming a slight shift in timbre and time signature into a crescendo of new hope.—Hattie Lindert, Pitchfork, 2 Mar. 2026 Relentless ostinato figures underscored Nosferatu’s voyage by boat.—Alex Ross, New Yorker, 22 Dec. 2025 But nothing has ever come close to the tension that floods our veins at the sound of that immortal two-note ostinato, the signature of John Williams’ suspenseful score.—David Rooney, HollywoodReporter, 20 June 2025 The varying pace of the ostinato – a musical motif that repeats itself – elicits intensifying degrees of emotion and fear.—Jared Bahir Browsh, The Conversation, 18 June 2025 See All Example Sentences for ostinato