Scherzo

Beethoven and Schubert were key figures in the development of late CLASSICAL style and early ROMANTIC style. One of their innovations in SYMPHONIES was to replace the third movement MINUET & TRIO with a similar triple-time movement known as the SCHERZO. SCHERZOS are also heard in CHAMBER music, as in this first example, and SONATAS. 
Like the MINUET & TRIO they are in triple time (three beats in a bar) and tend to be even more lively. In Italian, Scherzo means 'joke', so they're normally quite lighthearted.




Here's a playlist with further examples of SCHERZOs by Beethoven and Schubert.