Marin Marais (1956-1728) composed his Variations on Les folies d'Espagne in 1701 as part of his Pièces de violes second livre (Pieces for Viola da Gamba Second Book). Based on the Spanish folk dance as it appears in 1671 in a set of guitar variations by Italian composer Francesco Corbetta, Marais' Variations followed the model of Arcangelo Corelli's set of Variations on the same theme for violin from 1700. Marais' Les folies d'Espagne is set in 32 couplets that start with a statement of the theme and move through all the techniques of playing the gamba, from broken arpeggios through long, lyrical melodies and virtuoso runs and scales. With its occasional episodes and unexpected modulations, Marais' Les folies d'Espagne can seem almost improvised. Marais also transcribed the work for flute and there are also transcriptions of the work for solo flute by Schmidt and Moyse.

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