Alfredo Keil (Lisbon, 3 July 1850 – Hamburg, 4 October 1907) was a Portuguese classical composer and painter. He was of German origin on his father's side, and was the great Portuguese romantic composer. He was also considered the last important Portuguese painter in the romantic style. As a composer, he gained prominence with his operas "D. Branca" (1883), "Irene" (1893) and "Serrana" (1899), then considered the best Portuguese opera.  He composed the music of A Portuguesa, the Portuguese national anthem, in 1891, with lyrics by poet and playwright Henrique Lopes de Mendonça; it was adopted in 1911, after the proclamation of the Republic the previous year. Follow this link to hear A Portuguesa : http://www.aportuguesa.com/   Previous Articles: "March King" John Philip Sousa was the most famous band leader in the United States during his lifetime, a former U.S. Marine Band leader who composed and conducted some of the most well-known marches in the world.  Mr. Sousa was born in Washington, D.C., to John António de Sousa and Maria Elisabeth Trinkhaus. His parents were of Portuguese and Bavarian (German) descent. Mr. Sousa started his music education, playing the violin, as a pupil of John Esputa and G. F. Benkert for harmony and musical composition at the age of six. He was found to have absolute pitch (the ability to identify or sing a musical note without any reference). As a youth he learned to play the violin and various band instruments. In 1868 he enlisted in the U.S. Marine Corps as an apprentice in the Marine Band, and from 1880 to 1892 he directed the group, building it into a virtuoso ensemble. In 1892 he formed his own band, with which he toured internationally to great acclaim. He composed 136 military marches, including "Semper Fidelis" (the official march of the Marines), "The Washington Post," "The Liberty Bell," and "The Stars and Stripes Forever." He also wrote successful operettas, including El Capitan (1896), and dozens of other works. In the 1890s he developed a type of bass tuba now known as the sousaphone. Mr. Sousa passed away on March 06th, 1932, at the age of 77, after conducting a rehearsal of the Ringgold Band in Reading, Pennsylvania. The last piece he conducted was "The Stars and Stripes Forever".