My music is best understood by children and animals.
One has a nose. The nose scents and it chooses. An artist is simply a kind of pig snouting truffles.
Interpretation
What this quote means
The quote suggests that an artist uses their instinct to find and create beauty, much like a pig finds truffles through its keen sense of smell.
Igor Stravinsky's quote metaphorically compares an artist to a pig that sniffs out truffles, illustrating how artists rely on their innate sense of perception to identify and create meaningful art. Just as a pig is guided by its nose to discover the hidden treasures of the earth, an artist uses their instincts and emotions to uncover and express beauty in the world around them, implying that creativity is a natural talent that requires both sensitivity and exploration.
Themes
In practice
Example use cases
In a speech at an art gallery opening, one could say, 'As Stravinsky reminds us, an artist sniffs out beauty just like a pig finds truffles.'
More from Igor Stravinsky
All quotes βConductors' careers are made for the most part with 'Romantic' music. 'Classic' music eliminates the conductor; we do not remember him in it.
The trouble with music appreciation in general is that people are taught to have too much respect for music they should be taught to love it instead.
Invention presupposes imagination but should not be confused with it.
I was born out of due time in the sense that by temperament and talent I should have been more suited for the life of a small Bach, living in anonymity and composing regularly for an established service and for God.
A composer is not only an architect but also an inventor, and he should not build houses in which he cannot live.
Similar quotes
I'm going to take the kids away over Christmas but I don't, I've written 14 musicals now, I don't want to rush into doing something just for the sake of doing it. I want to do it when I find a story.
The conscience of an artist worthy of the name is like an incurable disease which causes him endless torment but occasionally fills him with silent joy.
If I were a doctor, I would prescribe that you addict yourself deeply and irrevocably to music and never, ever seek cure outside of more music. It really is the best drug available.
Art is only a means to life, to the life more abundant. It is not in itself the life more abundant. It merely points the way, something which is overlooked not only by the public, but very often by the artist himself. In becoming an end it defeats itself.
Great innovations, powerful interactions and real art are often produced by someone in a state of wonder. Looking around with stars in your eyes and amazement at the tools that are available to you can inspire generosity and creativity and connection
Nothing is lost and nothing is created in the operations of art as those of nature.