How to Use scherzo in a Sentence

scherzo

noun
  • The inner movements went along just fine, with horns in fine fettle in the jolly scherzo.
    — Dallas News, 2022-11-18
  • The scherzo had lithe energy, if less mystery and suspense.
    — Anthony Tommasini, New York Times, 2017-05-04
  • The rough hewn Menuet (a scherzo in all but name) was similarly forceful.
    — cleveland, 2019-10-21
  • Alsop drew gorgeous playing from the strings in the slow movement, vivid work from winds and brass in the scherzo and finale.
    — Tim Smith, baltimoresun.com, 2017-06-16
  • Even the scherzo, which can be craggy, had a wonderful malleable quality.
    — Washington Post, 2019-10-11
  • The scherzo was allowed its craziness, San Francisco style.
    — Mark Swed, latimes.com, 2018-03-28
  • The scherzo bristled with a kind of angular ferocity, at once robust and tender.
    — Joshua Kosman, San Francisco Chronicle, 2018-03-16
  • There was grandeur in the marchlike second movement; an aptly rolling tempo in the scherzo; and shades of Mussorgsky in the finale.
    — Howard Reich, chicagotribune.com, 2019-06-13
  • The trio blasted through the scherzo, a quintessential Ivesian clangor that mashes together a whole sheaf of folk tunes and hymns.
    — Zoë Madonna, BostonGlobe.com, 2019-07-03
  • The third movement scherzo is apocalyptic; crashing, thunderous chords are used as a merciless refrain in a danse macabre.
    — San Diego Union-Tribune, 2022-04-25
  • To a young listener, the belligerent scherzo or the supremely peppy and vigorous final movement may have the most appeal.
    — Daniel Gelernter, National Review, 2019-11-02
  • Thursday’s performance was out to dazzle and definitely succeeded, leaving the impression of the piece being one breathless scherzo.
    — David Patrick Stearns, Philly.com, 2018-05-11
  • However, the order of those movements doesn’t follow the classical model of fast sonata form followed by a slow movement, a dance movement (usually a minuet or scherzo), and a fast sonata or rondo finale.
    — Jessica Rudman, courant.com, 2019-10-13
  • While Bruckner did have a certain affection for the flute (its shivering excitement in the trio section of the Ninth’s scherzo is one example), most of his wind melodies are generically windy.
    — Russell Platt, The New Yorker, 2017-02-03
  • Loyal critics proclaimed it a triumph—from its opening stately melody on the cellos, the searing funeral march, the frenetic, disorienting scherzo, through to the final reiteration of the heroic theme on the brass.
    — National Geographic, 2019-04-24
  • As the movements progressed, however, his true strategy became more evident as the inexorable movement toward consolidation of energy and excitement gave us an intense second movement, a mercurial scherzo, and a finale of rare drive and concision.
    — Zachary Lewis, cleveland.com, 2018-05-14

Some of these examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'scherzo.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

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