Although marked Presto, there is no need to convey an overly busy feeling. The piece itself is elegant and peaceful, and does not require a sense of urgency; rather, it should be performed in a relaxed manner. While the tempo of each measure is fast, it may be effective to count in 4/4 time, treating four measures as a single unit (similar to how Chopin's Scherzos, despite being in 3/4 time, are often counted in four-measure units).

Perceiving this piece in 3/4 time can lead to numerous problems. For one, many measures contain consecutive sforzandos on the third beat, which could cause the listener to lose track of the beat. In measures 18, 20, 81, and 83, the sforzandos return to the first beat, so no particular consideration is needed for sections where sforzandos occur on the third beat.

The main theme, spanning from the anacrusis to the first beat of measure 4, appears only twice in the entire piece. The other instance is between measures 47 and 50. Therefore, it is highly recommended to observe the repeats in this second movement, meaning to repeat exactly as written without omission.