Scherzo

Sometimes the word scherzando ("joking") is used in musical notation to indicate that a passage should be executed in a playful manner.

It traditionally retains the triple meter time signature and ternary form of the minuet, but is considerably quicker.

The "B" theme is a trio, a contrasting section not necessarily for only three instruments, as was often the case with the second minuet of classical suites (the first Brandenburg Concerto has a famous example).

In some cases the scherzo is in sonata form, for example the third movement of Brahms's Fourth Symphony in E Minor.

The scherzo remained a standard movement in the symphony and related forms through the 19th century and beyond.