Scherzo

A scherzo (, , ; plural scherzos or scherzi), in western classical music, is a short composition – sometimes a movement from a larger work such as a symphony or a sonata. The precise definition has varied over the years, but scherzo often refers to a movement that replaces the minuet as the third movement in a four-movement work, such as a symphony, sonata, or string quartet. The term can also refer to a fast-moving humorous composition that may or may not be part of a larger work.
Origins.
The Italian word "scherzo" means 'joke' or 'jest'. More rarely the similar-meaning word "badinerie" (also spelled "battinerie"; from French, 'jesting') has been used. Sometimes the word "scherzando" ('joking') is used in musical notation to indicate that a passage should be executed in a playful manner.
An early use of the word "scherzo" in music is in light-hearted madrigals of the early baroque period, which were often called "scherzi musicali", for example:
Later, composers applied the term "scherzo" (plural scherzos or scherzi) and sometimes "badinerie" to certain instrumental works in fast tempos in duple meter time signature, for example:
The scherzo, as most commonly known today, developed from the minuet and trio, and gradually came to replace it as the third (sometimes second) movement in symphonies, string quartets, sonatas, and similar works. It traditionally retains the triple meter time signature and ternary form of the minuet, but is considerably quicker. It is often, but not always, of a light-hearted nature.
The main features include a 6 - 8 bar melody with one beat per bar feel.
Form.
The scherzo itself is a rounded binary form, but, like the minuet, is usually played with the accompanying trio followed by a repeat of the scherzo, creating the ABA or ternary form. This is sometimes done twice or more (ABABA). 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).
Appearance/examples in compositions.
Scherzi occasionally differ from this traditional structure in various ways.
The scherzo remained a standard movement in the symphony and related forms through the 19th century and beyond. Composers also began to write scherzi as pieces in themselves, stretching the boundaries of the form.
In present-day compositions, the scherzo has also made appearances.