The third movement, a scherzo and trio, begins in F minor with a musical quotation of the beginning of the finale of Mendelssohn's Piano Trio No. 2, Op. 66. In contrast to the tumult of the scherzo, the trio in D-flat major is calm and lyrical, and the accompanying bass too refers to Beethoven's "Fate" motif. Once the trio brings back the movement's opening material at its close, the scherzo is repeated in whole.