There follows a brief and uninhibited Scherzo in the manner of a fast country dance. The other dance movement in the work is the fourth, marked 'Quasi Menuetto', - delicate and pensive.

These two movements enclose the Serenade's chief glory; the central Adagio non troppo, which is among the most poetic things that Brahms was ever to write. The movement is an elaborately worked-out ternary form, full of contrapuntal ingenuity, with a sombrely dramatic central episode. But what stays in the memory is the shadowed, introspective lyricism, suffused with more than a hint of tragedy.

The work ends with a good-humoured Rondo with a march-like main theme, in which the bright clear timbre of the piccolo plays an important part.