Angelo Badalamenti, the famed David Lynch composer who went from teaching at a Brooklyn college to creating haunting music for movies Blue Velvet, Twin Peaks et Mulholland Drive of the American filmmaker, died on Sunday December 11. He was 85 years old.
Angelo Badalamenti died of natural causes, surrounded by his family, at his home in Lincoln Park, New Jersey, his niece Frances Badalamenti said on Monday (December 12th). Hollywood Reporter.
The classically trained composer has also collaborated with singers of virtually every genre over his long career, from Nina Simone, Nancy Wilson, Shirley Bassey, Patti Austin, David Bowie, Paul McCartney, Marianne Faithfull, Liza Minnelli, Mel Tillis and Roberta Flack to the Pet Shop Boys, Anthrax, Dolores O’Riordan, Tim Booth and LL Cool J.
Badalamenti composed the musical themes of Twin Peaks on ABC, from Profiler on NBC and Inside the Actors Studio on Bravo, and for the 1992 Summer Games in Barcelona, his Torch Theme during the opening ceremony accompanied the arrow of an archer which ignited the Olympic cauldron.
“I translate their words into music”
When David Lynch needed a voice accompanist for actress Isabella Rossellini to Blue Velvet (1986), then filming in North Carolina, he turned to Badalamenti, who had forged a reputation as a coach of singers.
Lynch entrusted all of the music to Blue Velvet to Badalamenti, who then collaborated with the filmmaker on Twin Peaks – he created themes for several characters in the drama of Wild at Heart (1990), Twin Peaks : Fire Walk With Me (1992), Lost Highway (1997), The Straight Story (1999) et Mulholland Drive (2001).
“I sit down with Angelo and talk to him about a scene, and he starts playing those words on the piano,” David Lynch told New York Times in 2005 to explain how the duo made music. “David’s visuals are heavily influenced by music, also explained to the New York daily the composer. The tempo of the music helps him set the tempo of the actors, their dialogue and the way they move. He would sit next to me at the keyboard and describe to me what he was thinking as I improvised the score. Almost all of Twin Peaks was written without me seeing a single frame, at least in the driver. »
In 1990, Badalamenti received a Grammy Award for his evocative theme from Twin Peaks and three Emmy nominations for his work on the series. The series’ soundtrack album went gold in twenty-five countries.
Badalamenti also had the opportunity to practice his acting skills in a memorable scene from Mulholland Drivewhere he plays a gangster who is very picky about his espresso.
He always said he was at the service of the director’s vision when he had to tackle a score.
“I always have a major question for a director when composing a soundtrack: what do you want your audience to feel? Do you want to scare them? Squirming in his seat? Feel good ? The way they answer this question gives me some pointers to work on. I translate their words into music. »