Tomlinson had discovered Warlock while a chorister at King’s College Chapel, Cambridge, and he went on to become one of the foremost authorities on Warlock’s music, which he felt had been unjustly neglected, writing several books and collecting an extensive Warlock archive.

Born at Rawtenstall, Lancashire, on December 18 1927, Frederick Tomlinson was the youngest son in a musical family. His father had founded the Rossendale Male Voice Choir in 1924, and conducted it for the next 50 years.

In 1937 Fred followed his two older brothers in winning a scholarship to the Manchester Cathedral Choir School, where the three brothers recorded some trios.

Fred was still only 11 when war broke out in 1939, and he and his brothers were evacuated with the school to Thornton on the Lancashire coast. After a year, however, the cathedral authorities decided the expense was too great, and the school was disbanded. Most of the boys were sent to local schools, but Fred was fortunate enough to win a place as a chorister at King’s College School, Cambridge, before returning home to continue his schooling at Bacup and Rawtenstall Grammar School.

He went on to Leeds University, where he initially studied Mathematics and Statistics but soon added Music and Italian to his studies. He became secretary of the University Music Society, arranging for it to stage a performance of Bach’s Mass in B Minor in 1948, with the Leeds University Chorus and an augmented university orchestra – an ambitious undertaking which was a resounding success. Tomlinson sang the bass solos during the performance, while the alto soloist was his future wife Pamela Mellor.

After graduation, Tomlinson spent six months training to be a teacher before being called up for two years’ National Service in the RAF, serving in Singapore. Then, having decided against a teaching career, he moved to London, where his eldest brother, Ernest, was beginning to make a name for himself as an arranger and composer.

There, he auditioned for the George Mitchell Singers, who provided backing for radio and television programmes, and began his broadcasting career. George Mitchell soon discovered Tomlinson’s skills as an arranger and began passing on arranging work to him. Tomlinson also formed his own quartet The Northerners. When, in 1956, he married Pamela, George Mitchell was his best man.