Editing Scherzo

{{Short description|Classical musical form}}
{{About|the musical term|the ''Doctor Who'' audio play|Scherzo (audio drama)|the piano composition by Stravinsky|Scherzo (Stravinsky)}}
{{Redirect|Badinerie|the Bach movement with this name|Orchestral suites (Bach)#Suite No. 2 in B minor, BWV 1067}}

A '''scherzo''' ({{IPAc-en|ˈ|s|k|ɛər|t|s|oʊ}}, {{IPAc-en|UKalso|ˈ|s|k|ɜːr|t|-}}, {{IPA|it|ˈskertso|lang}}; plural '''scherzos''' or '''scherzi'''), in [[western world|western]] [[classical music]], is a short composition – sometimes a [[Movement (music)|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]].<ref>{{Cite web |title=Scherzo {{!}} Definition, History, Use in Symphonies {{!}} Britannica |url=https://www.britannica.com/art/scherzo |access-date=2025-04-05 |website=www.britannica.com |language=en}}</ref> The term can also refer to a fast-moving humorous composition that may or may not be part of a larger work.<ref>{{Cite Grove |last=Russell |first=Tilden A. |last2=Macdonald |first2=Hugh |author-link2=Hugh Macdonald (musicologist) |title=Scherzo|name-list-style=amp}}</ref>

==Origins==
{{wiktionary}}

The [[Italian language|Italian]] word ''scherzo'' means "[[joke]]" or "jest." More rarely, the similar-meaning word ''badinerie'' (also spelled ''battinerie''; from [[French language|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 [[madrigal]]s of the [[Baroque music#Early baroque music (1580–1630)|early baroque period]], which were often called ''scherzi musicali'', for example:
* [[Claudio Monteverdi]] wrote two sets of works with this title, in 1607 and in 1632.
* [[Antonio Brunelli]] wrote ''Scherzi, Arie, Canzonette e Madrigale'' for voices and instruments in 1616.
* [[Johann Baptist Schenk]] wrote ''Scherzi musicale'' (fourteen suites for [[viol|gamba]] and [[Figured bass|continuo]]).<ref name=CEM483>Sir [[Jack Westrup]] & F. Ll. Harrison, ''Collins Encyclopedia of Music'' (1976 revised edition, Chancellor Press, London, {{ISBN|0-907486-49-5}}), p. 483</ref>

Later, composers applied the term ''scherzo'' (plural scherzos or scherzi) and sometimes ''badinerie''<ref>Boyd, Malcolm. ''Oxford Composer Companions: J.S. Bach'', Oxford University Press, 1999, p. 58</ref> to certain instrumental works in fast tempos in [[duple meter]] [[time signature]], for example:
* The scherzo of [[Johann Sebastian Bach]]'s [[Partitas for keyboard (Bach)|Partita No. 3 for keyboard]].<ref name=CEM483 />
{{Listen|type=music|filename=Bach, Johann Sebastian - Suite No.2 in B Minor - X. Badinerie.ogg|title=7. Badinerie|description=J. S. Bach, Suite No. 2 in B minor, BWV 1067}}
* The best-known "Badinerie" is the final movement of Bach's [[Orchestral suites (Bach)#Suite No. 2 in B minor, BWV 1067|Orchestral Suite No. 2 in B minor]]. 
* Badineries in French ''ouvertures'' by [[Christoph Graupner]] and [[Georg Philipp Telemann]].

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 [[symphony|symphonies]], [[string quartet]]s, [[sonata]]s, 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#Simple_ternary_form|ternary form]]. This is sometimes done twice or more (ABABA). The "B" theme is a [[trio (music)|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]].

==Appearance/examples in compositions==
Scherzos occasionally differ from this traditional structure in various ways.
* Some examples are not in the customary triple meter—for example, the scherzo of [[Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky|Tchaikovsky]]'s [[Symphony No. 4 (Tchaikovsky)|Fourth Symphony]], which is in {{music|time|2|4}} time; or the trio section of the scherzo from his [[Symphony No. 2 (Tchaikovsky)|Second Symphony]] which is in {{music|time|2|8}} time. Another example is Beethoven's [[Piano Sonata No. 18 (Beethoven)|Piano Sonata No. 18]]. This example is also unusual in being written in orthodox [[sonata 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|date=August 2010}} 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 was [[Ludwig van Beethoven]] and [[Franz 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 6 [[String Quartets, Op. 33 (Haydn)|String 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 of [[Frédéric Chopin]]'s four well-known [[scherzos (Chopin)|scherzos]] for the [[piano]] 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?"  <ref>{{cite book |title=Frederick Chopin as a Man and Musician |last=Niecks |first=Friedrick |year=2009 |publisher=Echo Library |isbn=978-1-4068-5229-5 |page=494 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Gonp5uzwnykC&q=%22How%20is%20gravity%20to%20clothe%20itself%20if%20jest%20goes%20about%20in%20dark%20veils%3F%22&pg=PA494 |access-date=30 August 2010}}</ref> 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.<ref> {{cite book|editor-first=Jim|editor-last=Samson|author-first=Jim|author-last=Samson|author-link=Jim Samson|title=The Cambridge Companion to Chopin|chapter=Extended forms: the ballades, scherzos and fantasies|isbn= 9780521477529 | year=1992|pages=101–123|publisher=[[Cambridge University Press]]}}</ref>
* In a letter, [[Johannes Brahms|Brahms]] referred to the scherzo from his [[Piano Concerto No. 2 (Brahms)|Second Piano Concerto]] as a "little wisp of a scherzo",<ref>{{cite web|last=Allsen |first=J. Michael |title=Piano Concerto No. 2, Johannes Brahms |publisher=Galveston Symphony Orchestra |date=2002 |url=http://www.galvestonsymphony.org/composers/JBrahms_PianoConc2.html |access-date=30 August 2010 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100411091451/http://www.galvestonsymphony.org/composers/JBrahms_PianoConc2.html |archive-date=April 11, 2010 }}</ref> in one of his typically sarcastic remarks, as it is a heavyweight movement.
* Other examples; the second movement of [[Dmitri Shostakovich|Shostakovich]]'s [[Symphony No. 10 (Shostakovich)|Symphony No. 10]], the second (sometimes third) movement of [[Gustav Mahler|Mahler]]'s [[Symphony No. 6 (Mahler)|Symphony No. 6]], [[Felix Mendelssohn]]'s [[A Midsummer Night's Dream (Mendelssohn)|composition]] for ''[[A Midsummer Night's Dream]]'' between act 1 and 2, and in several of [[Anton Bruckner|Bruckner]]'s symphonies.
In present-day compositions, the scherzo has also made appearances.
* Australian composer [[Julian Cochran]] wrote extensively for the form, with four scherzi for piano and two grand scherzi for symphony orchestra.
* [[Star Wars: The Force Awakens (soundtrack)|The soundtrack release]] of [[John Williams]]' film score for ''[[Star Wars: The Force Awakens]]'' (2015) includes a track titled "Scherzo for X-Wings"<ref>{{Cite news |last=Ross |first=Alex |author-link=Alex Ross (music critic) |date=2016-01-01 |title=Listening to “Star Wars” |url=https://www.newyorker.com/culture/cultural-comment/listening-to-star-wars |access-date=2025-04-05 |work=The New Yorker |language=en-US |issn=0028-792X}}</ref> which follows the typical scherzo rounded binary form and presents itself in a {{music|time|6|8}} time.<ref>{{Citation|title=Star Wars: The Force Awakens|url=https://www.amazon.com/Star-Wars-The-Force-Awakens/dp/B014V6JIQK|date=2015-12-18|access-date=2015-12-23}}</ref> Williams had previously composed "[[Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade (soundtrack)|Scherzo for Motorcycle and Orchestra]]" for the film score of ''[[Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade]]'' (1989) and in 1985 the ''[[Scherzo for Today]]'' for [[NBC]]'s ''[[The Today Show]]''.

==References==
{{reflist}}

==External links==
* {{cite EB1911|wstitle=Scherzo|volume=24|pages=321–322}}

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[[Category:Humor in classical music]]
[[Category:Formal sections in music analysis]]
[[Category:Classical music styles]]
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