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St. John Henry Newman: Music and Education
January 11, 2026
St. John Henry Newman: Music and Education
Converts to Catholicism from mainline Protestant denominations share with St. John Henry Newman a certain understanding of the power of rhythm and music to move the heart and teach the soul. This shared understanding comes from the experience of congregational singing during worship. In Newman’s time, and still today, music had been harnessed as a powerful aid for religious teaching, particularly in Protestant denominations. And so it is natural that teaching through words set to music would be something Newman would accomplish when he composed hymn/poems for the Oratory Hymnbook after his conversion.
For Newman, music was not just the sound made by humans, known in the quadrivium as “musica humana,” but a powerful bridge linking the visible and invisible worlds. Music since the middle ages had been viewed as an indispensable part of a complete education, though it was as a mathematical discipline pointing to the organizing principle of Universal Harmony, as more completely explained in this previous post.
St. John Henry’s love for music began early, before he had formed theoretical and theological explanations for its power. He started learning the violin at age 10, and at Oxford Newman was a violinist in a chamber music group. He had also been composing “verses” or poetry during these early years as well.
Newman’s poetry writing increased during one of the foundational experiences of his life, the Mediterranean voyage with Richard Hurrell Froude and Froude’s father. It was during this trip Newman wrote many poems, including “The Pillar of the Cloud”, which would eventually be better known by its first line, “Lead, Kindly Light”.
It was during this voyage that Newman and his friends spent Holy Week in Rome which allowed Newman to meet the Vatican’s music librarian. This gave him an invaluable chance to learn more about Gregorian chant. Once back home in England, Gregorian chant was having a bit of a revival and this allowed Newman to study it further. Congregational hymn singing during this time was mostly in Methodism, Lutheranism, and in the Baptist congregations since it moved emotions. It is well noted here that there was no congregational participation in hymns during the Catholic Mass because the Mass itself was sung, either by the priest or the choir.
The Anglican church during Newman’s younger years did not use original hymns composed for singing during worship but instead relied on what is known as metrical psalms. These compositions were psalms reworked into certain regular metrical patterns so that they could be sung to well-known hymn tunes. Music then would teach both the Bible and reach the heart through music; these popular tunes aided in the words being easily remembered. Even today, most former protestants can sing by heart what is known as “The Doxology” sung to the tune “Old One Hundreth” which points to it being a musical/metrical version of Psalm 100. The meter used for this adaptation of Psalm 100 is Long Meter, marked as 8.8.8.8, indicating 8 syllables per line. “Praise God from whom all blessings flow/Praise Him all creatures here below . . . .” Simply beginning with the known tune and the first 4 words will bring it to mind for many. Writing metrical verse would become a skill in which Newman excelled, a result of his musical training and his love for versification. He would first practice this skill by reworking Latin prayers from the Breviary, and then in his composition of original hymn poems for the Oratory Hymnbook.
After Newman’s conversion, the experience with the children at Littlemore combined with the charism of St. Philip Neri inspired Newman to take up writing original verses again, but this time for the purpose of teaching through the singing of these hymn/poems. Since Saint Philip’s time, one feature of the Oratory had been the promotion of religious hymns. For the Oratory hymn book Newman contributed both hymn/poems and several hymn tunes. Many of these lovely hymns are still sung today, and have been analyzed on this website, for example: website.https://cardinaljohnhenrynewman.com/candlemas-st-john-henry-newman/
In conclusion, for Newman, music was a key component of a complete education that trains the mind and soul to apprehend beauty, harmony, and, ultimately, divine truth. By participation in earthly singing, the soul can be part of the divine harmony which God has created to draw all unto Himself. Not until the trumpet sounds will this last sound disrupt the perfect harmony, metaphorically “untuning” the universe, for time will end and the living and the dead will be brought before the one Who has created music “to the praise of his name,” drawing us into perfect harmony/communion with Him.
