from "The Lombards at the first crusade"
Among the most famous choirs, “Oh Signore dal roof natio” is pervaded, like the previous “Va pensiero”, with a patriotic spirit, and made the Composer a standard-bearer of the ideals of the Italian Risorgimento. It is thanks to the Lombardi, as well as Nabucco, that Verdi's name finally became famous throughout Europe. The instrumentation includes the possibility of performing the piece with or without choir.