The folia theme with its typical harmony sequence has existed since the early baroque period. The term 'folia' goes back to a Portuguese dance from the 16th century, which is characterized by its fiery-fast and excessively exuberant character.

In the 17th century, it was a popular fashion to create variations on this To write the theme with its typical harmony sequence, the change of the minor key and the major parallel. Following the original meaning (in Italian 'La Follia' is translated as folly, madness or even madness) the individual variations increase in expression and degree of difficulty.

Nikolaus Maler has taken up this fashion and based on well-known compositions by Lully , Marin Marais, Vivaldi, Salieri, Ducreux and others, the present variations for the bassoon are tailor-made. He has chosen various contemporary prints, including from the Bibliothèque nationale de France, as a basis.

Since 2018, he has published recordings of unknown works for bassoon, as well as numerous etude works, on his YouTube channel'.