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A dance movement in triple meter, usually in binary form, with very regular phrases constructed of four-measure units, beginning without upbeat and cadencing on the strong beat ... The minuet with trio was the only Baroque dance form that did not become obsolete as the Classical style emerged in the second third of the 18th century ... Later minuets often include elements of sonata form (Thomas Arne). The binary (usually rounded binary) minuet with trio ultimately became the standard third movement of the Classical symphony ... This loosening of the minuet's definition led to the abandonment of the name in favor of scherzo, most prominently by Beethoven (New Harvard Dictionary of Music)