What is Minuet?
A '''minuet''' is a [[dance]] which was popular in the [[18th century|18th]] and [[19th century|19th centuries]] in [[France]]. It was danced by the [[aristocracy]], especially at the court of [[Louis XIV of France|King Louis XIV]]. Sometimes the [[French language|French]] spelling '''menuet''' is used, or the [[Italian language|Italian]] '''minuetto'''. It was a moderate or slow dance. There were always three beats in a bar (3/4 time). [[Composer]]s liked the music of the minuet and often wrote them just as pieces of music for a [[Keyboard instrument|keyboard]] or other instruments. Composers like [[Johann Sebastian Bach|Bach]] and [[Handel]] included them in their [[suite]]s (collection of dance movements). [[Jean-Baptiste Lully|Lully]] started to put them in his [[opera]]s, often in pairs: Minuet I, Minuet II, then Minuet I repeated. Often the second minuet would be played by three instruments, so it was called a '''trio'''. In the [[Classical music period]] the minuet and trio were used in [[symphony|symphonies]] and [[sonata]]s. They usually formed the third movement of a four movement work. [[Joseph Haydn|Haydn]], [[Mozart]] and [[Beethoven]] all wrote minuets and trios. Gradually the minuets became faster so that they were called [[scherzo]]s. By the 19th century the [[waltz]] had become fashionable among the new middle class. The polite minuet went out of fashion. [[Category:Ballroom dances]] [[Category:Musical forms]]