The third movement of Beethoven's Sonata No. 11, Op. 22, is a Menuetto with a contrasting minor-key middle section. The opening dance has a right-hand melody decorated with quick turns above broken-chord accompaniment. Although the triple meter remains clear, slurs, accents, and flowing inner notes make the music more active than a simple chordal minuet. The middle section shifts much of the rapid motion into the left hand before the opening dance returns.

Opening Menuetto: A short pickup leads into a sustained melodic note and a quick decorative turn. The left hand moves through broken chords while the right hand continues in linked phrases. The opening section repeats. The next section begins with closely placed running figures, then expands into louder chords and wider changes of register. The opening melodic shape returns with further decoration. A descending passage and a clear cadence complete the Menuetto, whose second section also repeats.

Minore: The left hand begins a fast, curling figure while the right hand answers with accented chords and held notes. The register changes repeatedly, and short exchanges briefly bring the running material into the right hand. Both sections of this minor-key passage repeat. Its final chords lead to an instruction to return to the Menuetto.

Return: The opening dance is played again without its repeats, restoring the lighter melody and broken-chord texture after the more insistent middle section.

Interesting fact: The score explicitly marks the return “Menuetto da Capo senza replica,” directing the pianist back to the beginning without repeating the Menuetto's sections again.