It would be impossible to trace the evolution of the form of the scherzo without treating also to some extent the history of the minuet, as the scherzo would hardly have come into being in the way it did had there not been the minuet, even though as the scherzo grew to maturity it resembled less and less its parent-form. This thesis examines the early use and origin of the scherzo, and its use and evolution in the works of Beethoven.