Ascherzo (/ˈskɛərtsoʊ/,UK also/ˈskɜːrt-/,Italian:[ˈskertso]; pluralscherzos orscherzi), inwesternclassical music, is a short composition – sometimes amovement from a larger work such as asymphony or asonata. The precise definition has varied over the years, but scherzo often refers to a movement that replaces theminuet as the third movement in a four-movement work, such as asymphony,sonata, orstring quartet.^[1] The term can also refer to a fast-moving humorous composition that may or may not be part of a larger work.^[2]

TheItalian wordscherzo means "joke" or "jest." More rarely, the similar-meaning wordbadinerie (also spelledbattinerie; fromFrench, "jesting") has been used. Sometimes the wordscherzando ("joking") is used inmusical notation to indicate that a passage should be executed in a playful manner.An early use of the wordscherzo in music is in light-heartedmadrigals of theearly baroque period, which were often calledscherzi musicali, for example:

• Claudio Monteverdi wrote two sets of works with this title, in 1607 and in 1632.
• Antonio Brunelli wroteScherzi, Arie, Canzonette e Madrigale for voices and instruments in 1616.
• Johann Baptist Schenk wroteScherzi musicale (fourteen suites forgamba andcontinuo).^[3]

Later, composers applied the termscherzo (plural scherzos or scherzi) and sometimesbadinerie^[4] to certain instrumental works in fast tempos induple metertime signature, for example:

• The scherzo ofJohann Sebastian Bach'sPartita No. 3 for keyboard.^[3]

• The best-known "Badinerie" is the final movement of Bach'sOrchestral Suite No. 2 in B minor.
• Badineries in Frenchouvertures byChristoph Graupner andGeorg Philipp Telemann.

The scherzo, as most commonly known today, developed from theminuet and trio, and gradually came to replace it as the third (sometimes second) movement insymphonies,string quartets,sonatas, and similar works. It traditionally retains thetriple metertime signature andternary 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.

The scherzo itself is a roundedbinary form, but, like the minuet, is usually played with the accompanying trio followed by a repeat of the scherzo, creating the ABA orternary form. This is sometimes done twice or more (ABABA). The "B" theme is atrio, a contrasting section not necessarily for only three instruments, as was often the case with the second minuet of classical suites (the firstBrandenburg Concerto has a famous example). In some cases the scherzo is insonata form, for example the third movement ofBrahms's Fourth Symphony in E Minor.

Scherzos occasionally differ from this traditional structure in various ways.

• Some examples are not in the customary triple meter—for example, the scherzo ofTchaikovsky'sFourth Symphony, which is in²
  ₄ time; or the trio section of the scherzo from hisSecond Symphony which is in²
  ₈ time. Another example is Beethoven'sPiano Sonata No. 18. This example is also unusual in being written in orthodoxsonata form rather than the usual ternary form for such a movement, and thus it lacks a trio section. This sonata is also unusual in that the scherzo is followed by a minuet and trio movement—whereas most sonatas have either a scherzo movement or a minuet movement, but not both. Some analysts^[who?] have attempted to account for these irregularities by analyzing the scherzo as the sonata's slow movement, which is rather fast. That would keep the traditional structure for a four-movement sonata that Beethoven usually followed, especially in the first half of his piano sonatas.
• Joseph Haydn wrote minuets that are close to scherzi in tone — but it wasLudwig van Beethoven andFranz Schubert who first used scherzi widely, with Beethoven in particular turning the polite rhythm of the minuet into a much more intense – and sometimes even savage – dance. Although in 1781, Haydn substituted menuets for scherzi in all of his 6String Quartets, Op. 33.

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.

• The first three ofFrédéric Chopin's four well-knownscherzos for thepiano are especially dark, with an intense energy, and hardly come off as jokes.Robert Schumann remarked of them, "How is 'gravity' to clothe itself if 'jest' goes about in dark veils?"^[5] Chopin's four scherzos are written as single movements, on an unprecedented large scale going beyond the previous Beethovenian model of classical multi-movement works.^[6]
• In a letter,Brahms referred to the scherzo from hisSecond Piano Concerto as a "little wisp of a scherzo",^[7] in one of his typically sarcastic remarks, as it is a heavyweight movement.
• Other examples; the second movement ofShostakovich'sSymphony No. 10, the second (sometimes third) movement ofMahler'sSymphony No. 6,Felix Mendelssohn'scomposition forA Midsummer Night's Dream between act 1 and 2, and in several ofBruckner's symphonies.

In present-day compositions, the scherzo has also made appearances.

• Australian composerJulian Cochran wrote extensively for the form, with four scherzi for piano and two grand scherzi for symphony orchestra.
• The soundtrack release ofJohn Williams' film score forStar Wars: The Force Awakens (2015) includes a track titled "Scherzo for X-Wings"^[8] which follows the typical scherzo rounded binary form and presents itself in a⁶
  ₈ time.^[9] Williams had previously composed "Scherzo for Motorcycle and Orchestra" for the film score ofIndiana Jones and the Last Crusade (1989) and in 1985 theScherzo for Today forNBC'sThe Today Show.

• Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911)."Scherzo" .Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 24 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. pp. 321–322.