El testament d’Amèlia is a popular Catalan folk song. Miquel Llobet (1878-1938) arranged beautifully the melody for guitar in his “Canciones Populares Catalanas”. Llobet, he was a guitar virtuoso that studied with Tarrega (1852-1909). He toured Europe and, it is said, that is one of Segovia’s main influences.
The lyrics tell a grim tale: Amèlia dies from a broken heart, having lost her unfaithful husband to her own mother. She decides to bequeath her husband to her mother, «perquè el tingueu en cambra com fa molt temps que feu» (which basically means: “you can have him in your bedroom, as you have already been doing for a long time».
The piece is in D minor and, to play it, you will need to tune the low E to D. Due to the sense of deep sorrow and despair present on the melody, the interpretation requires a slow tempo.
You can download the guitar score here.
