obligato vs motive

obligato and motive both are nouns.

Word	Noun	Adjective	Verb	Adverb
obligato	Yes	No	No	No
motive	Yes	Yes	No	No

As nouns, motive is a hypernym of obligato; that is, motive is a word with a broader meaning than obligato:

Other hypernyms of obligato include motif.

obligato (noun)	motive (noun)
a part of the score that must be performed without change or omission	the psychological feature that arouses an organism to action toward a desired goal; the reason for the action; that which gives purpose and direction to behavior
a persistent but subordinate motif	a design or figure that consists of recurring shapes or colors, as in architecture or decoration
	a theme that is repeated or elaborated in a piece of music

obligato (adjective)	motive (adjective)
	causing or able to cause motion
	impelling to action