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FIGURE LVIII.

Little wonder is it, then, that such a daring spirit, such a hater of the timid and the droning, such a passionate lover of the individual, the striking, the bizarre, and even the grotesque, found a congenial task in infusing humor and irresponsibility into the classic minuet. This form, already the lightest part of the sonata and symphony, already consecrated to the expression of the composer's gayest and most graceful thoughts, needed only to be made plastic enough to include fantasy and banter in order to give free scope to Beethoven's most frolicsome moods. To the task of thus aerating the symphonic minuet he applied himself very early. Take, as an instance, the minuet of the very first piano sonata, opus 2, number 1. As a whole it breathes the polite graciousness of Mozart. The first cadence, especially, recalls the sweetly formal manner of the old school. (See Figure LVIII(a).) Yet a moment later Beethoven begins to play with this very cadence in true scherzo fashion, like a cat with a mouse, twice pawing it gently, so to speak, and then pouncing on it with fury: ((b) in the same figure.)

In the other two sonatas bearing the same opus number he adopts the name scherzo—which is an Italian word meaning "joke" or "jest"—and with it introduces still more of the playful spirit; and as the sonatas progress we find this tendency growing, until in opus 26 and opus 28 we have full-fledged, though rather brief, examples of the real Beethoven scherzo. Let us look at these more carefully.

II. SCHERZOS FROM BEETHOVEN'S SONATAS.
EXAMPLE FOR ANALYSIS, No. 22.[1]

Beethoven: Scherzo[49] from the Twelfth Sonata, opus 26.

We note first of all that though the time-signature is three-four, as in the old minuet, the pace is much more rapid—"allegro molto"—so that a sense of bustle and restless activity is substituted for the well-bred deliberateness of the minuet. This acceleration of time is observable in most of the scherzos.

Again, the theme (measures 1-17) is of most energetic character, which is even further intensified, on its re-entrance in the bass at measure 46, by a rushing accompaniment in eighth-notes.

A characteristic passage precedes this return of the theme. To make the excitement more welcome when it comes Beethoven has one of his "lulls" for sixteen measures (31-46), during which the motion dies out and all seems to stagnate for a moment. This sort of quiescence, in which one takes breath for a new access of energy, is always consummately managed by Beethoven, who has made the "lull" a famous device.

The trio calls for no particular comment. It is in binary form, while the scherzo itself is ternary.