Emmy nominated X-Files composer dies aged 78 as tributes pour in
Mark Snow, the veteran television composer who created the iconic X-Files theme song, has died at his Connecticut home aged 78.
The 15-time Emmy nominee passed away on Friday, according to reports.
Snow scored more than 200 episodes of The X-Files throughout its run, transforming the series’ eerie theme into an unlikely chart success that reached the top 10 in Britain, Ireland, France and across Europe in 1996.
His prolific career spanned decades, with the composer providing music for numerous hit television series including Blue Bloods, Smallville, Ghost Whisperer, Hart to Hart and T.J. Hooker.
Six of his Emmy nominations came from his work on The X-Files, while five others recognised his contributions to acclaimed television films and miniseries including “Something About Amelia,” “An American Story,” “Oldest Living Confederate Widow Tells All,” “Children of the Dust” and “Helter Skelter.”
Snow composed music for nearly 290 episodes of the long-running CBS police drama Blue Bloods starring Tom Selleck.
He also scored the first six seasons of Smallville and all five seasons of Ghost Whisperer, earning two additional Emmy nominations for the latter.
His other television credits included Dynasty, The Love Boat, Cagney & Lacey, Falcon Crest and Pee-wee’s Playhouse.
The Juilliard-trained composer was amongst the first to transition from traditional orchestral scoring to an all-electronic approach in the late 1980s, working alone in his home studio.
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All of his X-Files television music was created using synthesisers, samplers and other electronic equipment.
Fans quickly flocked to social media to pay their respects to the artist, with one writing: “My condolences to his family and friends. His work was incredible and memorable. A really gifted composer.”
Another added: “His soundtracks for The X-Files were superb. RIP Mark,” while a third echoed: “I can’t imagine The X-Files without his music. RIP.”
A fourth fan wrote: “And now ladies and gentlemen, please stand up for the X Files National Anthem to pay your respects and tribute to the man who once composed one of the best theme songs in TV history.”
And a fifth added: “Next to Mulder and Scully, Snow’s score is the third most important character in the #Xfiles! Every time I watch, which is usually multiple times a week I’m taken at how his score pervades the episode. He was brilliant.”
Composer Sean Callery, who considered Snow a mentor and close friend for over three decades, told Variety: “His limitless talent and boundless creativity was matched only by the generosity he bestowed upon other composers who sought his guidance.”
Callery believes Snow’s X-Files scores “brought an entirely new language of musical storytelling to television.”
Born Martin Fulterman on August 26,1946 in Brooklyn, Snow began piano studies at age 10 before adding drums and oboe to his repertoire.
He studied at New York’s High School of Music and Art, where he befriended future film composer Michael Kamen.
The pair became roommates at the Juilliard School of Music from 1964 to 1968 and co-founded the New York Rock & Roll Ensemble.
After moving to Los Angeles in 1974, his brother-in-law, actor Georg Stanford Brown, helped him secure his first television scoring job.
Snow is survived by his wife Glynnis, three daughters and grandchildren.