Eveing Concert, Saint-Chapelle

I really enjoyed this poem because I could relate to it very easily. The poem depicts an orchestra concert at Saint Chapelle, and because I play the violin, I can clearly picture this poem in my mind. The author, John Updike, starts by illustrating the scene of the concert with vivid details that allow the reader to picture the setting even if he or she has never been to Saint Chapelle. Updike continues on and describes the type of music being played. Vivaldi and Brahms were excellent choices for composers because they are both very well known and celebrated pieces of music, so it is easy for the audience to relate to them. Then, from here on, Updike describes the effect of the music, not on the audience but on the orchestra. The reader can infer this from the line "a glimmer ebbed until our beating hearts, our violins were cased in thin but solid sheets of lead." I really liked this part because I have experienced everything Updike describes. In fact, I have played pieces from both Brahms and Vivaldi and I can easily remember the feeling I got when I performed them. "[T'he listening eye saw suddenly the thick black lines , in shapes of shield and cross and strut and brace, that held the holy glowing fantasy together." This is my favorite part of the poem because there is a difference between playing notes on a page and actually creating music, and this part talks about the music jumping off the page and surrounding the orchestra. (picture: Saint Chapelle)