The most exciting thing about my choice to use a bird in this imagery is how many different reads there are for its meaning. I began with the metaphor of piano keys being related to birds, and in this, you can see an allegory of music spreading its wings: music taking flight. Then, there’s the speed and agility of a bird, the lightness of its movements like a master’s hands across a piano keyboard. There’s also the interpretation of the literal magical transformation from instrument into dove, the showmanship Nero has to make magic from music.

The dove itself, of course, is wrapped up in its own connotations as well: it’s a stately bird representative of peace and love. The pianodove, then, is a symbol of the flight of music, the magic, when played by an artist as talented as Nero, and the powerful good that can come from it.