Unser Mund sei voll Lachens, BWV 110

John Eliot Gardiner, who conducted the Bach Cantata Pilgrimage, in 2007

The opening chorus is "Unser Mund sei voll Lachens" (May our mouth be full of laughter).[1] It calls for all instruments to perform.[9] The text "concludes with acknowledgement that the Lord has achieved great things for his people".[10] Bach based the music on the overture to his fourth Orchestral Suite in D major, adding festive trumpets and timpani as well as flutes[4] to the original music and embedding the voices.[1] He followed the format of the French overture by instrumental slow sections framing the fast choral section.[1] The French overture, normally played upon the arrival of the king to a performance, seemed suitable to greet the King of Heaven.[4] The laughter mentioned in the text is "often made quite graphically audible", as the Bach Scholar Alfred Dürr words it.[1] When Bach performed the work again later, he added ripieno vocal parts, achieving even more variety in the "concerto".[1] John Eliot Gardiner, who conducted the Bach Cantata Pilgrimage, incorrectly interprets it as Bach's vote against a strict one voice per part concept: contra Gardiner's assertion, Bach did not indicate "con" and "senza ripieni," which is simply how the editors of the NBA edition indicated the music in Bach's new ripieno parts. Indeed, Bach's separate copies for each ripienist clearly support rather than challenging the one voice per part hypothesis. Gardiner chose this cantata in one of three Christmas concerts to conclude the endeavour of a full year, and notes the first movement's "marvellous rendition of laughter-in-music" and "innate elegance and lightness of touch".[9]

A tenor aria, "Ihr Gedanken und ihr Sinnen" (You thoughts and musings),[11] is accompanied by two transverse flutes. Dürr interprets the choice of the flutes as a symbol for the "lowly birth".[1][4]

A bass recitative, "Dir, Herr, ist niemand gleich" (There is no one like You, Lord),[11] is accompanied by the strings, which accompany the expressive line of the bass voice by "upward-pointing gestures".[1]

The alto aria, "Ach Herr, was ist ein Menschenkind" (Ah, Lord, what is a human being),[11] is accompanied by a solo oboe d'amore that "expresses wonder about the nature of man" and God's interest in him.[10] The aria, as the first one, is not a da capo aria, but in two parts. The idea of man in a sinful condition which is presented first, is changed to redemption.[1] The Bach scholar Klaus Hofmann relates the choice of the oboe d'amore to the answer to the singer's question "Why do you do all this for man?": "Aus Liebe" (through love).[4]

The duet "Ehre sei Gott in der Höhe" (Glory to God in the highest),[11] combines two high voices over a simple continuo accompaniment, singing of God's glory in the highest and peace on Earth.[10] The music is based on the Virga Jesse floruit from the Magnificat, changing the vocal lines to the different text but retaining the "essentially lyrical character".[1] Gardiner notes that "goodwill towards men" is expressed in pastoral style, with the voices in parallels of tenths.[9]

The bass aria "Wacht auf, ihr Adern und ihr Glieder" (Awaken, veins and limbs),[11] is a final call to wake up and join the praise of the angels. Trumpet and oboe add to energetic music. The oboes double the strings or rest, for more dynamic effect. Virtuoso passages in the trumpets are reminiscent of the first movement.[1] The first triad call of the trumpet is of martial character, and imitated by the voice. When the text refers to the strings, the winds have a rest.[12]

The closing chorale, "Alleluja! Gelobt sei Gott" (Alleluia! Praise be to God),[11] is a four-part setting of the tune by an anonymous composer.[13] Bach set the same tune again to close Part III of his Christmas Oratorio with another stanza from the hymn, "Seid froh, dieweil" (Be glad, therefore).[10]