Ernest Tomlinson MBE (19 September 1924 – 12 June 2015) was an English composer, particularly noted for his light music compositions.
[4] He spent the next two years studying composition until in 1943 he left to join the Royal Air Force, where, although colour-blind,[5] he became a wireless mechanic and saw service in France during 1944 and 1945.
[2] Tomlinson left northern England for London, where he worked as a staff arranger for Arcadia and Mills Music Publishers (1949-55), providing scores for radio and television broadcasts as well as for the stage and recording studios.
Tomlinson was primarily known as a composer of light orchestral pieces and produced a considerable body of works ranging from overtures, suites and rhapsodies and miniatures, of which Little Serenade (1955, originally composed for a BBC radio production of Cinderella)[8] and Cantilena are probably the most popular.
In the 1960s, he wrote a number of Test Card pieces such as Stately Occasion and the tongue-in-cheek Capability Brown.
His Fantasia on Auld Lang Syne (1976) is a quodlibet, which in its 20 minutes weaves in 129 quotations from pieces by other composers and folk and popular songs.
[7] Tomlinson was appointed Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE), in the 2012 Birthday Honours, for services to music.