Allegro, E major, 3/4 time

This movement is generally interpreted as a Scherzo movement, but it differs from Schubert's other Scherzo movements in the following two respects:

• Firstly, the composer did not mark the beginning with "Menuetto" or "Scherzo," nor the middle section with "Trio."
• Secondly, while Schubert's dance movements typically adopt an AB or ABA form in their main and trio sections, with repeat signs placed at two locations—midway and at the end of the main section—this movement differs from other dance movements in that repeat signs are only placed at the end of the main section.

This movement opens with a unison melody. Beginning in E major, it proceeds through a sudden E minor (m. 20) before concluding in B major, after which the opening melody is developed in B major with an active accompaniment (from m. 26). At measure 50, the rhythms of both hands are exchanged, and a new melody is spun out. From measure 102 onward, which can be considered the Trio section, various modulations occur through the repetition of the latter phrase of the theme that begins at measure 13. In the autograph manuscript, the writing ceases at measure 142, which appears to be the end of the Trio.

Considering the large scale of the main section, the presence of a final bar line only at its end, and the developmental character of measures 102–142, which utilize material from the first half, the entire movement could also be interpreted as taking a sonata form.