From Minuet to Scherzo

    1.   In the early Classical era (c. 1730) almost all multi-movement instrumental works 

          (e.g. symphonies, concertos, string quartets, sonatas) had three movements in 

          Fast → Slow  →  Fast order.  As the Classical era progressed, a fourth, medium 

          paced movement called the minuet (or menuetto) was added to symphonies and 

          string quartets, the most prestigious instrumental genres of the era.  Minuets were 

          always in ternary form (A→B→A) and in 3/4 time (like a waltz).   The minuet was 

          usually placed third (after the slow movement) of the four movement work, but 

          was sometimes placed second (before the slow movement).  

    2.  The Classical era minuet was derived from the 17th century Baroque era aristocratic 

         minuet dance (if you went to Versailles  to see Louis XIV, you better be able to dance 

         a minuet).  The dance was dignified and serious, as was the Classical era instrumental 

         minuet that was derived from it.  By the Classical era, the dance was no longer popular, 

         but the musical idea of the minuet was.  So composers like Haydn and Mozart put 

         minuets in their symphonies and string quartets.  In fact, their versions were more 

         sophisticated than the Baroque era minuets, because they were for listening instead of 

         dancing (just as Chopin made his waltzes more musically sophisticated than earlier 

         waltzes had  been).  

    3.  In the 1790s Beethoven does two things of importance.  First, he added a fourth 

         movement to piano sonatas to elevate them in prestige equal to symphonies and 

         string quartets.  Second, except in a small number of four movement pieces, he 

         used a scherzo instead of the minuet for this extra movement ("Scherzo" is 

         Italian for "joke").  This was because that minuets are limited musically (having 

         to be medium paced and sound serious and dignified.  

         Like the minuet, scherzos were in ternary form and in 3/4 time.  But they did 

         not have to be medium paced, often they were very fast.  Also, Beethoven's 

         scherzos were not aristocratic and serious, instead they were playful and witty. 


  Videos:

       1.  Dancing a Baroque minuet  (1:00)

       2.  Scherzo from Beethoven's Symphony No. 3  'Eroica'  (1:30)

 
       3.  Scherzo from Beethoven's Piano Sonata No. 29 'Hammerklavier'  (1:45)