Angelo Badalamenti, Composer for ‘Twin Peaks,’ Is Dead at 85 - The New York Times

Angelo Badalamenti, an internationally sought-after composer who wrote the hypnotic taxable to “Twin Peaks,” David Lynch’s 1990s tv play series, and the euphony for 5 Lynch films, including “Blue Velvet” (1986), died connected Sunday astatine his location successful Lincoln Park, N.J. He was 85.

His niece Frances Badalamenti confirmed the death. She said she did not cognize the cause.

Mr. Badalamenti was astatine the soft down Isabella Rossellini erstwhile she sang “Blue Velvet” astatine the Slow Club successful Lumberton, N.C., a flower-filled, picket-fence benignant of municipality with a precise acheronian side. Aside from the rubric song, a Bobby Vinton deed from 1963, helium had composed much of the film’s music.

He besides wrote the euphony for Mr. Lynch’s 2001 neo-noir enigma “Mulholland Drive” and had a tiny relation successful the movie arsenic 1 of 2 mobster brothers who spits retired his espresso successful a conference-room scene.

His best-known enactment was the “Twin Peaks” theme, recognizable from its archetypal 3 ominous, otherworldly notes. He won the 1990 Grammy for champion instrumental popular show for the number, which was, according to the Allmusic website, “dark, cloying and obsessive — and 1 of the champion scores ever written for television.”

In 2015, a Billboard writer described the taxable arsenic “gorgeous and gentle 1 second, eerie and unsettling the next.” It was, according to Rolling Stone, the “most influential soundtrack successful TV history.”

Mr. Badalamenti didn’t truly disagree.

“Music and composing — I astir consciousness a small blameworthy astir it — travel truthful easy for me,” helium told the northbound New Jersey paper The Record successful 2004. “It’s similar the good doesn’t look to tally dry.”

Angelo Daniel Badalamenti was calved connected March 22, 1937, successful Brooklyn. A second-generation Italian-American, helium was the 2nd of 4 children of John Badalamenti, a food marketplace owner, and Leonora (Ferrari) Badalamenti, a seamstress.

Growing up successful the Bensonhurst section, helium started soft lessons astatine 8 but discontinue due to the fact that helium preferred playing stickball outdoors with his friends. He took it up again astatine his older brother’s insistence and came to admit the soft erstwhile girls admired his playing. He was soon accompanying vocalists and different acts astatine Catskills resorts during summers disconnected from precocious schoolhouse and college.

Mr. Badalamenti attended the Eastman School of Music successful Rochester, N.Y., and earned a master’s grade astatine the Manhattan School of Music successful 1960.

His archetypal occupation was teaching the seventh people successful a nationalist school, but erstwhile helium wrote a philharmonic Christmas programme for his students, members of the Board of Education saw the accumulation and told the section nationalist TV presumption Channel 13 astir it. The presumption videotaped and broadcast the show, and the Monday aft Christmas, Mr. Badalamenti got a telephone from a Manhattan euphony steadfast with a occupation offer.

Nina Simone recorded immoderate of his archetypal songs, including “I Hold No Grudge,” successful 1965. Nancy Wilson sang “Face It, Girl, It’s Over” (1968).

Mr. Badalamenti got started successful films by penning euphony for “Gordon’s War,” a 1973 blaxploitation film. Ossie Davis, the director, wanted an all-black crew, each “brothers,” helium said. Mr. Badalamenti pointed to Sicily connected a satellite map. “You bash 7 strokes from Sicily, and you’re successful Africa,” helium said helium told Mr. Davis. “I whitethorn not beryllium your brother, but I’m surely your cousin!”

He and Mr. Lynch met erstwhile Mr. Badalamenti was called successful arsenic a vocal manager for Ms. Rossellini connected the acceptable of “Blue Velvet.”

Jamie Stewart, whose set Xiu Xiu did an medium of “Twin Peaks” music, saw Mr. Badalamenti’s Lynchian enactment successful a humanities midcentury context: a postwar satellite wherever everything appeared to beryllium sunshine and pastels but wherever the evil unleashed by World War II inactive lurked.

“It’s precise romanticist but tin beryllium terrifying,” Mr. Stewart said of the music, speaking to The Guardian successful 2017. “It has a unit and a sincere sentimentality — sadness but not despair.”

Mr. Lynch, who described Mr. Badalamenti’s enactment arsenic having “a heavy and almighty beauty,” said that helium and the composer would beryllium wholly successful sync successful expressing Mr. Lynch’s imaginativeness for a film. “I beryllium adjacent to him and I speech to him, and helium plays what I say,” helium said successful an interrogation with the American Film Institute.

As Mr. Badalamenti explained connected NPR’s “All Things Considered,” that’s however helium wrote “Laura Palmer’s Theme” for “Twin Peaks.” Sitting beside him astatine his Fender Rhodes keyboard, Mr. Lynch began talking.

“It’s the dormant of night,” Mr. Badalamenti said. “We’re successful a acheronian wood. There’s a afloat satellite out. There are sycamore trees that are mildly swaying successful the wind. There’s an owl.”

The words became notes that evoked the communicative of a murdered homecoming queen successful the Pacific Northwest.

They collaborated again and again, connected the films “Wild astatine Heart” (1990), “Lost Highway” (1997) and “The Straight Story” (1999), successful summation to “Mulholland Drive.” There were 5 iterations of “Twin Peaks,” including the movie “Twin Peaks: Fire Walk With Me” (1992) and an 18-episode sequel bid (2017).

In between, Mr. Badalamenti wrote for a wide assortment of movies, among them “Nightmare connected Elm Street 3: Dream Warriors” (1987), “The Comfort of Strangers” (1990), “Naked successful New York” (1993), “The City of Lost Children” (1995), “A Very Long Engagement” (2004) and “The Wicker Man” (2006).

He utilized what helium called his “classical chops” to score “Stalingrad” (2013), a wartime emotion communicative acceptable against that pivotal 1942 battle. It was an tremendous container bureau occurrence successful Russia, wherever it was produced.

One of his longest-running projects was the euphony for the programme “Inside the Actors Studio,” hosted by James Lipton, which was seen connected the Bravo cablegram transmission from 1994 done 2019.

Writer’s artifact was seldom a occupation for Mr. Badalamenti, but composing a torch-lighting taxable for the 1992 Summer Olympics successful Barcelona had him stumped. The notes yet came to him successful the shower, helium recalled, and helium hurried downstairs to his piano. “I wrote it successful fractional an hour,” helium said.

He received the Henry Mancini Award from Ascap, the American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers, and a Lifetime Achievement grant from the World Soundtrack Awards.

Mr. Badalamenti is survived by his wife, Lonny; his daughter, Danielle; and 4 grandchildren. His son, André, died successful 2012.

His niece Frances interviewed him for a magazine, The Believer, successful 2019. He remembered being drawn to movie noir successful his youth, telling her, “The haunting sounds person been there, the off-center instrumentals, ever since I was a child.”

Alex Traub contributed reporting.