Scherzo: Allegretto, G major, 3/4 time

The movement consists of a main section (ABA'), a trio section (CDC'), and a da capo of the main section. Both the main section and the trio section adopt the typical ternary form for a scherzo movement.

The humor characteristic of a scherzo movement is evident in the way the dotted quarter note, which should be emphasized on the strong beat, begins without emphasis as it is placed in the middle of a slur, and in the opening section, which progresses in 4-bar units but concludes after 10 bars, two bars short of a full phrase. From measure 11, both hands proceed in a canonic fashion, and then together, with a crescendo, lead to a diminished seventh chord (m. 19) that is left unresolved, leading to a general pause. The A section then concludes in the dominant key of D major (m. 28).

The B section begins in the mediant key of B-flat major and proceeds in a canonic fashion. By reinterpreting B-flat as A-sharp and inserting a general pause that feels suspended at a half cadence in G major, it prepares the return of the A section. The A' section is a recapitulation of the A section, but harmonic adjustments have been made to allow it to close in the tonic key.

The trio section is in D major and consists of a combination of a folk-music-like half note + quarter note rhythm and a continuously flowing eighth note rhythm. Following the 8-bar C section and then the equally 8-bar D section, the C section returns for only 4 bars, an octave higher.