John Tavener librettist Mother Thekla dies aged 93

THE LAST surviving nun to have occupied the enclosed Orthodox Monastery Of The Assumption in North Yorkshire, Mother Thekla, known as the librettist and spiritual guide to classical composer Sir John Tavener, died on 7th August. She was 93. She furnished the words for some of Tavener's most important religious works and was the spiritual driving force behind one of his most popular pieces, "The Protecting Veil" (1987). In 1993 she supplied the words for his "Song For Athene" that was later featured at the funeral of Princess Diana in 1997. She was born Marina Sharf in Russia but was brought to England to escape from the Revolution. She was a Cambridge graduate who taught English before founding "her" monastery and inadvertently becoming one of the most widely heard classical librettists of the 20th century.