Ananda Sukarlan is a pianist and composer who goes far beyond the traditional perception of music. He creates works for those whom society often considers incapable of playing – people with disabilities.

Born with Asperger’s syndrome and later diagnosed with Tourette’s syndrome, Sukarlan has been turning the "impossible" into "possible" since childhood.

Today, he lives between Spain and Indonesia, supports inclusive education programs, teaches underprivileged children free of charge, and helps provide them with musical instruments.

His next plan is to create music for people with prosthetics – in collaboration with Ukraine’s Superhumans Center.

Rapsodia Nusantara No. 15 – a composition for the left hand, part of Ananda’s plan to create 34 compositions for each province, based on Indonesian folk songs.

Australian media called you one of the most influential composers of Indonesia. For the people who listen to your music for the first time, how can you describe it?

My music is hopefully Indonesian because I take Indonesian folk music and culture into my music, but I like to explore other cultures too. I don't only write for piano, although I am a pianist. Since 2008 I have worked with disabled people, like with one hand alone. It was triggered by a foundation in Spain who works with disabled children. But then I got addicted and since then I write music, very difficult music, concert music for disabled people. 

My music … I hope it's Indonesian. Although it's difficult to say "Indonesian" composer because Indonesian is so heterogeneous. Music from Sumatra is different from Java, and even West Java and East Java are different. I try to understand many cultures of Indonesia and put them in my music. Although, they say my music always sounds like Ananda.

And when you are writing your music, what are you inspired by?

Everything which is around me. Basically, events of what's happening. I think music or culture writes history more accurately than history itself. 

Because, as for me, there is a lot of fiction in history. Because history is written by people who win in politics. But when people start to hide the facts, that's where the arts and the music starts to open up and to reveal the facts. 

I learn history, I learn about Julius Caesar more from Shakespeare than from history books. Of course, I learned a lot about Ukraine from Nikolai Gogol. Although it's fiction.

Is it translated to Indonesian?

No, I read it in English. The Nose is especially my favourite. I mean, that reflects politics at that time.

Have you listened to Ukrainian composers?

Not much, although I am a big fan of Tchaikovsky. And I don't know if Tchaikovsky is Ukrainian or Russian. I just heard that Swan Lake was written near a lake in Ukraine.

Of course, Leontovych – everybody knows him. But besides that – no, not really. 

And what inspired you to write music for people with disabilities?

Because I believe that disability is made by the society and not by the person. I mean, for example, a person with a wheelchair: if there is no access to come here with a wheelchair, then that person is disabled. But if there's access, for example, a lift and a ramp to come here, then that person is not disabled anymore. 

And it is the same with music. Why can't people play the piano with one hand? Because Beethoven, Mozart. and Tchaikovsky didn't write music for one hand. But once there is music for one hand, like what I do, then somebody with one hand can become a pianist. And that's why I think one of our jobs as an artist is to make disabled people able. 

All photos provided by Author

So, it's not that if you have one hand then you grow another hand, because that's the task of doctors. But how to make music just for that and the music should be as good as if it's played by two hands. 

And in fact, every pianist – even with two hands – is disabled. Because sometimes I want to write music for three hands. But then because nobody has three hands, I have to compromise my music so that it can be played with two hands. So it's basically the same process.

Isn't it about simplification of music?

No, because if it's simplification, then it sounds worse than what I heard in my head. What I heard in my head is music and then I have to adapt it, not simplify it but adapt it to the physical limitations of the musicians.

And what's the difference between adaptation and simplification?

Adaptation is not lowering the quality. Simplification always lowers the quality.

Can you share some situation or some moment in your life when you were deeply moved by some musicians who inspired you on your career path and who had some disabilities?

I'm inspired by Austrian pianist Paul Wittgenstein who was the brother of Ludwig Wittgenstein. 

Paul Wittgenstein performs Ravel's Piano Concerto for the Left Hand:

He lost his hand in the First World War. And since he lost his hand, he thought that his career was finished. But then he commissioned Maurice Ravel, Benjamin Britten and Sergei Prokofiev to write music for one hand. So they write for piano one hand and orchestra. Because it's easier when you don't know what to do with one hand, you let the orchestra play. 

But then I thought, well, we have to continue that, that a pianist can play a solo piano concert with one hand alone without any help of the orchestra. 

And my dream is to have enough music to write for a pianist to play a whole concert of one hand alone. I played my music for one hand alone and it's still very tiring. But I guess it's just a matter of habit, of learning how to… it's like when you walk with one leg. It's very tiring. But once you get used to it, it's possible to have a life with only one leg.

I haven't had an opportunity to visit your concert yet. But my colleague told me a story that she was present at your concert and she said that if you close your eyes and if you don't see that you're playing with one hand it’s easy to imagine that you're playing with two hands. How is it possible?

Because it should be possible. Nothing is impossible. I was born with Asperger's syndrome and I have experienced a lot of things which people think are impossible, but for me, it's possible. So I think if you want something to be possible, then it's possible.

Nowadays in Ukraine due to the war we have a situation when people – both civilians and soldiers – lose their limbs and, from your point of view, how can this music empower and heal them?

It's the same as my case when I was a child. People born with Asperger's syndrome… People think we are stupid, we cannot do this, we cannot do that, anything. People always concentrate on what you cannot do. But people sometimes forget what you can do with all your limitations. And so with the victims of war, you have to concentrate on what they can do and what they can do better. And I have proven with my music for one hand or with a few fingers that it can sound as good as music for "normal" people.

And so we have to empower them, because if they play music, then they still have the dignity and the confidence that they still exist, and they can contribute to society. The problem is that if you lose some abilities, society judges you as a useless person. 

But I think with music, well, from my part, you should tell them that they're still useful and they can still contribute, regardless of any limitations they have.

As far as I know, you were recently connected with the Superhumans Centre, and, if I am not mistaken, asked you to write something for artificial limbs, and now you are in the discussion of the collaboration.

Yes. And that's… I am very interested, because I never wrote for artificial limbs. I wrote for what is left from the people. So, if somebody has only one hand, then I write only for one hand. 

But now, with artificial limbs, I have to investigate what those artificial limbs can do. So, it's a different kind of paradigm, a different approach from what I do now. 

You know, that is for artificial limbs. And if it's artificial limbs, then why not put 10 hands for people instead of only two hands? Then, with artificial limbs, maybe you can do something much better. You know, one person can play several instruments, for example, a kind of chamber orchestra for one person.

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And will you try these artificial limbs, like on your own, to understand?

I would like to. I would very much like to, and this is a new field which I want to explore very much. And this is just happening because of the Superhumans Centre. So, I always want to explore new ideas, because I believe that music is not only for normal people, but it's exactly for people who need healing and who need empowerment. Because, anyway, artists are not normal people.

I can agree with this statement. And when you wrote music for one hand, for several fingers, how was it for you? Did you try to play it yourself?

Yes. Normally, if I write music, I don't have to try it myself, but for that, I have to try it, because I have to know that it's playable. It's practical.

And then I discovered that writing for one hand is not just writing for two hands and then cut it in half, because then it has something to do with the balance of your body. It has to do with how to divide your hand. For example, the piano is playing a melody and accompaniment, and now you have to divide the melody and accompaniment into one hand.

And that's a different psychology, because your mind, your brain has to think about one hand… For example, the piano. You have to have the melody and the bass sometimes, which is never done, because normally, if you play the piano, you have the melody in the right hand and the accompaniment in the left hand. But now, with one hand, you can put the melody in reverse, and that will enrich the musical language –  how to write melody lower than the accompaniment, for example.

So, just by itself, it enriches the music and how musical language develops.

When I learned to play piano, it was always hard to include the second hand, because it should do other stuff.

Oh yeah.

So your brain works differently, and you need some time to adjust it to playing a different melody with different hands. When people do it with one hand, is it more complicated or less complicated?

It's more complicated, and it's more tiring. So, that's why I said to you, my dream is to have a complete repertoire for one concert, because now I play the music for one hand. Maybe just one or two pieces in my concert, because it's very tiring. And also to think, it's very tiring.

But I think, human brain should be trained to do more, because now, with social media and everything, the human brain is so lazy.

Yes.

And we always think about artificial intelligence now. It's because we have natural stupidity.
And I think we should have natural intelligence.

We should come back to natural intelligence.

Yes.

And do you have written pieces for different hands?

Yeah, so right hand alone, left hand alone, and music without pedals, for people without legs. Because sometimes you forget that we need legs to play the piano, because you don't see it.

Three pedals.

Three pedals. For two legs, you have three pedals.

It's like a car.

Well, even now, you have automatic cars. So people's brains get less and less. That's why you need artificial intelligence. And because we have artificial intelligence, we are growing stupider and stupider.

And in your work,  don't you use artificial intelligence?

No, because my intelligence is natural.

Do you use some adaptive instruments for musicians, or are there just regular instruments?

Uh, no, they’re regular instruments. But the original project in Spain was to ask 10 composers to write for their instruments. So, each composer has their specialities, and I'm for the piano.

But I have another friend who writes for guitar, and so he has to make the guitar like…

But at least there are left-handed guitars.

Yes. Like, for example, Paul McCartney from the Beatles – he was left-handed. But the idea is how to play the guitar with one hand, so the other hand is only doing this [immitates playing guitar - ed.]. Or with a plectrum. So yes, with the guitar it's adaptable, but for piano, we haven't done that.

But I want to explore more and more and see what we can do, for example, with artificial limbs. And what we can do for disabled people with a piano. But I think it [using adaptive instruments - ed. ]will be difficult, because it's less common. It's better to write music adapted to disabled people.

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Can this music become as popular as regular music?

I don't think so. Because it's difficult, and it needs more intelligence. But I don't think… If you talk about art and art music, I think it will be the same as classical music –  it's always for a certain segment of society.

And for those people who have no limbs or have artificial limbs, and maybe they lost some of the abilities they had, for example, to play piano – what can you recommend? From where to start to come back to this?

Well, among others, playing the music which we have written for special needs. I mean, it's not only for one hand, but also for a few fingers only. And I'm quite proud that Spain started this project, because it has never been done before.

Ask the composers – composers like me, an Argentinian, a Brazilian, and a Spanish composer – to start thinking about this and to reverse the way people think. That disability is because of society, not because of the person. But, because society treats them as disabled. Once we make them able, then everything is possible.

And also, like you said, music is therapy. It's always therapy anyway, even for non-disabled people. I mean, I think music is like a pearl – you know, a… uh, how do you say… a shell?

A shell?

Yeah. If there's a stone, then it makes a pearl. Music is like that.

If you are hurt, then, you know, we make our own pearl, and that's music. I think because, as I said, artists are not normal people. We are people who need art. That's why people think we don't need money, although it's wrong.

We need money, but we also need art, and we need to create. And this… this push from inside to create art is because something is hurt inside us. So, I think it's a healing process in its own way. And I think with people who lost a limb, then it's a very big therapy. And also [an opportunity] to make other people happy.

And you, yourself, are happy?

Yeah, yeah.

Author: Alina Poliakova, Ukrainska Pravda