'Keroncong' maestro's lonely days

Blontank Poer, The Jakarta Post, Surakarta, Central Java

The man walks with difficulty and speaks almost inaudibly, but when it comes to talking about his creative journey, Anjar Any becomes momentarily explosive before succumbing to the effects of his chronic breathing problem.

Two years ago, the 67-year-old veteran songwriter suffered sclerosis in the blood vessels of his brain and this disease virtually put an end to his career, a condition worsened further by kidney trouble.

His ailments have robbed the musician of his life-long enjoyment of spending hours playing on his favorite keyboard. A prolific composer, his compositional repertoire came to a premature end at 2,450 pieces.

Anjar is a legend of keroncong (traditional Indonesian musical genre with Portuguese influence, popular among Javanese) and langgam (characteristically Javanese musical genre). His songs have catapulted a number of keroncong singers to national fame, including Waljinah, Mus Mulyadi and Wiwik Sumbogo.

It is true that Anjar Any is not as well-known as Gesang, the keroncong composer of world-renowned Bengawan Solo (The Solo River), an all-time favorite among former Japanese occupation troops stationed in Indonesia in the early 1940s. For the post- 1960s generation, Anjar Any's Yen Ing Tawang Ana Lintang (When the night is starry) and Jangkrik Genggong (Cricket song) -- both sung by Waljinah -- are the most popular of all.

While Yen Ing Tawang Ana Lintang (1964) is a romantic song, few would ever suspect that Jangkrik Genggong, a song that Waljinah sang in a coquettish tone in 1967-1968, was actually a subtle satirical parody of the situation in the early days of the New Order regime.

"I had to choose the words of the song carefully to avoid the political risks it could have entailed back in those days," he told The Jakarta Post.

Jangkrik Genggong, he says, is about a very large but cowardly cricket. It chirrups raucously in the quiet night, but goes quiet when another creature, especially a human being, comes near.

This song was indeed intended to satirize the wavering stance of the politicians in the transitional period, during which president Sukarno's power was systematically curtailed by the powerful General Soeharto, who eventually wrested the helm from Indonesia's first president.

In those early days of Soeharto's New Order regime, politicians had no courage to declare their stance openly. People previously known as Sukarno's supporters easily switched their loyalty just to ensure their own safety.

Anjar was then very much concerned about this phenomenon and became even more so when the New Order regime and its supporters began to show their corrupt mentality. The country was at that time receiving a lot of financial support from Western countries for having toppled Sukarno, who was accused of being a communist sympathizer.

Inspired by the situation, Anjar specially composed two satirical songs later popularized by singer Mus Mulyadi, Gatutkaca Edan (Gatutkaca is mad, 1972) and Petruk Dadi Ratu (Petruk becomes king, 1972).

Gatutkaca Edan is about a leader who destroys political and economic norms, even though he is actually expected to defend the weak and uphold justice for the country's glory. In Petruk Dadi Ratu, which is based on a Javanese shadow puppet story, Petruk, a jester, becomes king thanks to his good relations with the political elite.

As king, Petruk applies the habits and logic of the common people to rule.

"As a result, the country plunges into chaos, as it is controlled by someone who is sticking to his own personal norms," Anjar said.

Anjar Any is highly skilled at exploring the psychological characteristics of a particular period and turning it into verse for his songs. He has a talent for capturing the prevailing socio-political situation -- either a situation that he has gone through, or one that other people commonly experience.

When urged by a compelling situation, he is able to finish writing a song in a a matter of minutes. Of course, inspiration like this does not come all the time.

In the mid-1960s, for example, he was riding his bike along a quiet road in Surakarta when he was suddenly inspired to write a song. He stopped and jotted down the words that came to his mind. At night, he reflected upon his note and polished the lyrics.

"I would stop doing whatever I was doing when I felt an inspiration. I would at least make notes of it; otherwise, I would lose the moment."

One of Anjar's other talents is writing, which he nurtured and cultivated during junior high school in Ponorogo, East Java, his birthplace. He wrote short stories, poems and even articles that he sent to a number newspapers like the Surabaya Post in Surabaya, Dharma Kandha in Surakarta and Suara Merdeka in Semarang.

In 1956, he worked as a Ponorogo-based freelance reporter for Suara Merdeka. Then, in late 1969 he joined Dharma Kandha newspaper, which a few years afterward became Dharma Nyata.

One thing that distinguishes him from other keroncong masters like Gesang, for example, is his managerial skill. As he was a reporter, he was widely informed about the recording industry.

In the early 1970s, he had contacts at a number of recording companies in Semarang, Surabaya and even Jakarta. He often spent the night at a recording studio along with Mus Mulyadi or other singers. Among his acquaintances were a number of big names in keroncong, such as Waljinah's late husband Budi, Sadali and Teguh Srimulat.

Almost half of his songs have been recorded and are available as LPs, cassettes or compact disks. Anjar Any enjoyed very large royalties in 1975, long before songwriters enjoyed royalties and copyright for their work, through Dharma Nada (Semarang) and Lokananta (Surakarta) -- the two recording companies that have popularized his songs and their singers.

In 1966, Lokananta bought the copyright to Yen ing Tawang Ono Lintang for Rp 16 million, a huge sum at that time. The overly excited Anjar kept the money order too long, until the government devalued the rupiah and its value dropped to a mere Rp 16,000.

Throughout his career, Anjar Any has received a number of awards, including those bestowed upon him by the Indonesian Keroncong Artists and Musicians Association (Hamkri), the Surakarta branch of the Indonesian Chamber of Commerce and Industry, and the Central Java governor.

Unfortunately, Anjar's glory days have passed. In the mid- 1970s, he could earn some Rp 16 million in royalties. Today, he spends his days with his beloved wife, Nik Biyatni, at his imposing home near Balapan railway station in Surakarta, his routine days broken by regular checkups paid for with the help of his five children.