Marilyn Haskel is a composer, choir director, organist and liturgist who has been a Presenter at Music that Makes Community events since the project's beginning.


You probably know the song form "round." A melody is taught to the whole group, then the group is divided into smaller groups that are led to enter singing the melody at different times. In this round the smaller groups enter one measure after each other when it becomes a four-part round. The leader here (me!) should have learned the piece a little better before teaching, but she didn't, so making the best of a hurried situation, she corrects the melody before going on. This is a four-part round, but can also be sung as a two part round first as is done here.

This song is perfect to teach to a congregation gathered for a grace before enjoying a pot-luck supper, barbecue or summer picnic. Know your congregation so that you can choose whether they can handle a two-part round or the four-part. You do not have to do both the first time you try this. Keep using the grace for other such events. Or this could be used at a summer camp as a grace also or at a feeding program (the staff preparing the meal could sing this before beginning to cook).

The printed version of this round has three other languages that could be used: Spanish, Japanese, and Korean. You can find information on where to get the sheet music in the listing for Bless this Food in our MMC Songs Database. You can also use the "Round" filter under Song Type or the "Grace" filter under Contexts and Gatherings to find more songs for summer gatherings.