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plural ostinatos or ostinati
(music) A piece of melody, a chord progression, or a bass figure that is repeated over and over as a musical accompaniment. quotations examples
The piece moves in alluring spans of swirling figures, jagged lines and pointillistic outbursts, often prodded forward by ostinatos in the perky piano.
2009 January 26, Anthony Tommasini, “Pricking Up the Ears to Listen for Echoes of California”, in New York Times