Minuet: Allegro vivace, B major, 3/4 time

Although explicitly marked "Minuet" at the beginning of the movement, it is in fact a scherzo movement, as it is a rapid movement where one bar is counted as one beat, rather than a three-beat dance. This type of movement, the scherzo, was introduced by Haydn as a substitute for the minuet movement and later formalized by Beethoven as a rapid middle movement.

Both the main section and the trio section are in ternary form. In contrast to the energetic main section in B major, the trio section abruptly shifts to a quiet G major. The key of this trio section is not only a mediant relationship to the main section but also related to the second movement.