Present
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Previous MusiciansAll Saints'Parish Church Choir 1952?
1898-1906 Hugh Pleass appointed organist only in 1898, the curate Rev Sedgwick being choirmaster. Pleass took over from him as choirmaster in 1901. 1889-98 MJ Dunwell
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Present
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Previous MusiciansAll Saints'Parish Church Choir 1952?
1898-1906 Hugh Pleass appointed organist only in 1898, the curate Rev Sedgwick being choirmaster. Pleass took over from him as choirmaster in 1901. 1889-98 MJ Dunwell
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As will be seen from these two articles, Hugh Pleass had been organist here for a number of years and was both a very competent organist and choir master, and a very capable Assistant Master (Deputy Head) at the National C of E Boys' School, at that time in Highlands Road in the building recently demolished and used until then by A & H Animal Feeds. Linda Heath (Parish Magazine Aug 2007)
PRESENTATION TO MR PLEASS
On Thursday, June 20th, Mr. Hugh Pleass, who has resigned the
position of organist and choirmaster at the Parish Church, on
being appointed headmaster of Merrow Schools, was the recipient
of a handsome marble clock from the members of the choir. The
presentation was made by Rev. B. C. Taylor, who referred to the
happy relations which had always existed between the choir and
Mr. Pleass. The gift was suitably acknowledged by Mr. Pleass. The
clock bore the following inscription: "Presented to Mr. Hugh
Pleass by the members of the Letherhead Church Choir on his
leaving Letherhead, as a mark of affection."
The Parish has sustained a great loss by the appointment of Mr. Hugh Pleass to the Head-Mastership of Merrow School. Mr. Pleass was appointed Assistant Master of the Letherhead Boys' School in 1891, and Organist of the Parish Church a few years after. The record of Mr. Pleass' work, both as Assistant Master and as Organist, is one of unremitting fulfilment of duty. The excellence of the reports of H.M. Inspectors and of the Diocesan Inspectors on his work in School is evidence of the thoroughness of such work, and the present efficiency of the Choir tells of his ability and success as Organist and Choir-Master.
I desire to take this opportunity of expressing my grateful thanks to Mr. Pleass for his unvarying courtesy, and his kind attention to any wish expressed by me. We hope that every happiness and success may attend Mr. and Mrs. Pleass in their new life at Merrow. F.E.U. [Canon Utterton]
As from 1st September 2002, David Oliver took over as Director of Music at Leatherhead Parish Church from Chris Slater.
He is a composer & writer, specialising in children’s music – writing for BBC TV, GMTV and many holiday companies within the UK & Europe. He has been a professional musician for over 25 years, and was formerly organist at West Rainton in County Durham.
David, who is from the North East, has lived in Leatherhead since 1992 and has written many pieces for the parish choir over the past few years including a setting for the Eucharist.
As Director of Music, David brings to the parish his experience of differing musical styles - particularly contemporary music – and has set himself the task of integrating the sometimes diverging styles of worship music within the parish.
David conducted and was instrumental in organising the Ecumenical Songs of Praise at The Theatre in Leatherhead. This brought together all the local Christian churches for a service of praise and worship along with a 30 strong choir, 8 piece orchestra and 7 piece band.
David is looking forward to leading the music and choir at St Mary & St Nicholas and has written a special piece for Harvest Festival.
David Eaton, Vicar: July 2002: I am delighted to have been able to appoint David Oliver as Director of Music to succeed Chris Slater. David takes up his post from 1st September and is already well known to many in the congregation.
This appointment, by mutual agreement, is initially for six months. This will allow David to judge whether he can take this new commitment on board alongside his other professional responsibilities. I very much hope the outcome will be positive.
David is a professional musician and has worked in the music industry for many years. He was previously organist and choirmaster at West Rainton, County Durham. David will work in close liaison with the church choir and with Hedley Kay and the Music Group. We remain indebted to both these groups for their musical contribution to worship.
The way forward in church music now lies in letting the different traditions, traditional and contemporary, formal and informal, complement each other and together to serve the worship we seek to offer week by week. We are extremely fortunate in the quality of musicians of all ages we have available to enhance church worship, mostly on a voluntary basis.
We wish David every success as he takes on this new role.
We are sad to report that David passed away on
13 January 2009.
A Celebration of the life of David Oliver
Chris has provided the following information:
Director of Music 1984-90
Previously Organist at St. Paul’s, Kingston Hill
Inaugurated Voluntary Practices on Saturday mornings for the
children.
1984 Saw the ghost in church during evening choir practice in the
winter. The local press ran the story and it is also recorded in
the book by Graham McEwan Haunted Churches of England.
Many musical events include:
1985 Organ Recital on 27th March; Performance of St. John Passion
on Good Friday. Combined chorus drawn from Leatherhead PC, the
United Reformed Church and the Methodist Church.
1986 Two concerts to celebrate the 900th anniversary of the
church.
1988 Took the choir to Guildford Cathedral to sing Evensong,
which included his own Ely responses.
1989 The fire destroyed the organ and for a time another Allen
Organ was placed in the nave to accompany the services.
1990s The newly formed Slater Symphony Orchestra gave regular
concerts in which there were some outstanding soloists.
1990 Resigned
1995-Sept 2002 returned as Organist with daughter Carol (Coslett)
as Music Co-ordinator until she moved to Cuddesdon for her
theological studies.
David Eaton, Vicar: July 2002 : We sadly said goodbye on July 28th to our Director of Music, Christopher Slater, who retired, having reached one of those birthdays with a nought at the end. Chris has been Director of Music in this parish for 12 years in all, and in other parishes for most of his working life.
Chris (below the candlestick) surrounded by a larger than usual
Evensong choir for his final service as Director of Music on 28
July 2002
He brought a rich mixture to church music. His knowledge of music is extensive and many have benefited from his teaching at the Royal College of Music, and locally from adult education classes. A skilled musician in his own right, he founded the Slater Symphony Orchestra and we have benefited from concerts they have performed at the parish church on a number of occasions. He is a guardian of the Anglican choral tradition. He has worked tirelessly with our choir to achieve high standards of choral music, week by week, but also at major festivals. Chris is a supremely fine conductor and has had a distinguished orchestral career both locally and in London. I am indebted to him for his hard work as Director of Music during my incumbency, and for the support he has been when my own musical know-how has been meagre. We wish him and Pat every happiness in retirement. [Chris is now Director of Music at St Mary's Church, Shalford] |
 Chris at the console of the Allen organ |
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On a hot July evening Chris is seen here being presented with a specially commissioned John Ainley watercolour of Leatherhead Parish Church. L-R: David Eaton (Vicar), Robert Jenkins (former choir member & NSM), Chris Slater, his daughter Carol (former choir leader and now training for the ministry at Cuddesdon, Briony Martin (Deacon), Anne Thomson (Choir Secretary). On the back of the frame were many messages of goodwill from those who had contributed. |
Christopher Slater's 70th Birthday Concert What a splendid and festive occasion Chris Slater's Birthday Concert was! It took place in the Parish Church on Saturday 14th December 2002 and was completely sold out - a fitting tribute to our former Musical Director.
The programme opened with a rousing item in the form of Beethoven's Overture to Fidelio and was followed by The Tempest Suite No. 2 by Sibelius. This was an interesting and unusual work, less well known than many of his other works, and in some ways curiously unlike Sibelius. Next followed an even less well known concerto, written in 1916 by Delius, for violin and cello with orchestra, superbly played by two young artists, Alexandra Wood and Naomi Williams, who had both learned the concerto specially for this concert. It was a piece full of contrasts and it is a pity that it is not more often played.
After the interval we heard another Scandinavian piece - the Danish composer Nielsen's First Symphony, composed in 1892 when he was only 27. This youthful work is full of joyous optimism and also passages of lyrical beauty which the orchestra brought out to full advantage. However, undoubtedly the musical highlight of the evening was the final work - Seven Decades, written by Mark Slater as a tribute to his father. The orchestra obviously thoroughly enjoyed playing it, and the enthusiastic reception by the audience was such that part of it had to be repeated as an encore. In every way this provided a most appropriate finale to an almost "Family Party" atmosphere at Chris's 70th Birthday Concert. Linda Heath
this page last updated 27 Mar 2010
