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A stately dance in 3/4 time, used as the third movement of Classical symphonies, quartets, and sonatas. Paired with a contrasting trio section.
The minuet has a specific character: elegant, measured, aristocratic. Write it in clear 8-bar phrases with balanced binary form. The trio (so-called because it was originally scored for three instruments) should contrast in key, texture, or dynamics.
Mozart's Symphony No. 40, third movement (Menuetto) — a chromatic, restless minuet that pushes against the form's usual elegance.
Minuet is one of 228 terms in the Gradus musical dictionary, where every definition is written around how composers actually use the word.
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