British composer Adrian Sutton, best known for his evocative and emotionally charged scores for stage productions including War Horse, The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time and Coram Boy, has died aged 58.

He had been living with inoperable cancer since 2022.

Adrian Sutton (1967 – 2025). Photo © Helen Maybanks

Born in Kent on 15 August 1967, Sutton spent part of his childhood in Zimbabwe and South Africa before returning to the UK to study music at Goldsmiths, University of London. His time there, particularly in the electronic music studio, helped shape a compositional voice that fused orchestral and electronic sound worlds with striking originality.

Sutton began his professional career writing applied music for television and film, including the BAFTA-winning short My Wrongs 8245–8249 and 117, before establishing himself in the theatre.

His breakthrough came with Coram Boy at the National Theatre in 2005, followed two years later by War Horse, whose sweeping, cinematic score became integral to the play’s global success. War Horse was last performed in Australia in 2020.

War Horse at the New London Theatre. Photo @ Brinkhoff Mögenburg

A later orchestral suite derived from the production was widely performed by orchestras around the world.

Sutton’s music was influenced by the English symphonic tradition of Elgar and Vaughan Williams, combined melodic lyricism with modern immediacy. For The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time (2011), he expanded his sonic palette with electronic textures, demonstrating his adaptability and flair for storytelling through sound.

After his diagnosis of incurable cancer in 2022, Sutton remained creative. His later works included a Violin Concerto premiered by Fenella Humphreys and the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra in June 2023, and a Chandos Records album of orchestral works that drew critical acclaim for its melodic freshness and emotional depth.