Minuet

Dance, movement and tempo marking

The minuet has two meanings: a dance from France in 3/4 time, and the movement of a sonata or symphony, also a suite movement. The word goes back to French “menuet”, which is related to “menu” (“small”). The dance form entered instrumental music as a movement. There the minuet usually comes in third place in a four-movement work, together with a trio; but it can also come elsewhere. In Mozart’s Sonata in A major (K. 331) in the archive, the Menuetto is the second movement.

Two-part, and with a trio

The basic form is simple: two parts, each repeated. The parts can be any length; Petzold’s Menuett G-Dur has two sections of 16 bars each. The minuets in sonata and symphony are usually followed by a trio, a middle section that Mozart’s score heads “Trio.” and notates in a different key signature (two sharps instead of three). After the trio the minuet returns: the abbreviation D.C. stands for “da capo”, “from the beginning”.

Minuet as a dance piece

• Menuett G-Dur Christian Petzold, from the Notebook for Anna Magdalena Bach, BWV Anh. 114 · piano · 1 page

  Time signature 3/4, one sharp. A repeat sign is written at the end of bar 16 and of bar 32, and its counterpart before bar 17. In the last bar a G major chord sits above the bass G.

Minuet as a movement of a sonata

• Sonate Nr. 11 A-Dur, 2. Satz: Menuetto Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, K. 331 · piano · 3 pages

  Above bar 1 is written “MENUETTO.”, followed by the time signature 3/4 and three sharps, with f in the first bar. The repeat sign after bar 18 separates part 1 from part 2, which runs to bar 48. From bar 49 “Trio.” is written, with two sharps. At the end of the last page is written “Menuetto D.C.”: after the trio the minuet begins again from the start.

Minuet in guitar music

• Etüde Nr. 7 Dionisio Aguado, from: Collection of Studies for Guitar, op. 3 No. 7 · guitar · 1 page

  Above the first bar is written “Minuetto.”, the time signature is 3/8, and there is no key signature at the start. After the first bars come first- and second-time endings marked 1. and 2., and later the key signature changes to three ♭.

• Tiroler Weise Nr. 14 Felix Horetzky, from: 60 National Airs of Different Nations, arranged for guitar · guitar · 1 page

  At the start of the line is written “TEMPO di. MENUETTO.”, time signature 3/4, four sharps, and an upbeat of one quarter note. Triplets with the small 3 appear several times. Here the word minuet serves as a tempo heading (“in the tempo of a minuet”); the piece itself has a different title.

Time signature and name

Three-four time is the rule, as in the table: three quarter notes per bar, with beat one stressed (see Three-four time). Three-eight time also occurs. The archive shows it in Aguado, who calls his piece “Minuetto” and writes it in 3/8. The designation can also indicate only a tempo: Horetzky’s “Tempo di Menuetto” is a tempo instruction, and the piece carries a different title. How fast a minuet was played was not fixed; that is why an instruction like that, with nothing more, is imprecise.

Common mistakes

• Equating minuet and waltz: Both are in three-four time, but the minuet is a dance from France, originally with a two-part structure; the waltz is a different dance form.
• Skipping the trio: In Mozart’s movement the trio is followed by “Menuetto D.C.”, so the minuet is played once more.
• Taking every piece in 3/4 for a minuet: A minuet is recognised by its name, its structure or the tempo marking on the sheet, not by the time signature alone.