The low notes that gave me an incredible high

Adrian Bridge, centre, performs in Vienna. Main picture: a festive Karlskirche

Never mind your views on life, the universe, Brexit and the travails of Manchester United Football Club. For any truly rounded man, the key question is much simpler: are you a tenor or a bass? And for any truly rounded woman: alto or soprano?

Having returned to singing – let’s just say well into adulthood – I spent years straining to be a tenor before I realised that my natural home was with the basses – my voice broke late in life, I explained – and I’ve never looked back (or tried to hit a high C) since.

Which is why on a wintry Monday morning in Vienna I find myself standing with about 20 fellow basses as part of a choir preparing to perform Mozart’s Requiem in the baroque splendour of the Karlskirche church.

We are being put through our paces by Jeremy Jackman, our musical director, former King’s Singer and a

consummate professional who manages to be both critical and kindly.

“You’ve done jolly well this morning, but the truth is that sounded just a bit… scratchy,” he says as we work our way through the exquisite latter part of the Confutatis section of the Sequenz of the Requiem. “Just think of every note as a planet,” he says. “There’s a sunny side and a dark side – and you don’t want to come anywhere near the dark side. Now then, let’s try it again. And please, remember that this is the heart and soul of the piece…”

We do not have much time. In a little over 36 hours, we will be taking our places in the Karlskirche for a performance timed to coincide exactly with the day and time of Mozart’s death – between midnight and 1am on Dec 5 1791.

All of us, although amateurs, are familiar with the piece and most have already performed it in public. I am one of only four for whom this is a first, and though I have for several years been a member of the Telegraph Choir (one of many to have sprung up in the Gareth Malone singing is good for you era), this is a quantum leap. I confess I am nervous.

We know the notes, but there are matters of nuance and phrasing and Latin pronunciation that Jeremy wants to bring to our attention. Such as making sure that we put the proper emphasis on the “x” at the end of the start of Rex tremendae and that we are all in no doubt about what to do when we see a dotted crochet and a semiquaver. “Hold that note too long, and I RunBySingers (runbysingers.org) offers the 2019 Mozart Requiem in Vienna package for £895 per person sharing, with three nights at the Hotel am Konzerthaus, a typically Austrian evening meal and a welcome reception. Flights not included. Jeremy Jackman will direct. Reductions for non-singing partners. Booking (and full information online) from Jan 8 2019. Email emma@ runbysingers.org to express interest.

Hotel Am Konzerthaus MGallery by Sofitel (0043 1 716 160; www.hotelam konzerthaus.com) is an arty choice close to the Karlskirche.

Only in Vienna (The Urban

Explorer; £16.95) by Duncan JD Smith is an invaluable guide to the city’s hidden corners (onlyinguides.com). More information: austria.info; vienna. info; telegraph.co.uk/ tt-vienna-guide just know you’re going to miss the next one,” he says. “And basses, there was something a bit off key there – you seem to have caught something off the sopranos, though don’t ask me how that happened! Oh, and if you are going to take a sneaky breath there, don’t pronounce the ‘t’ in the wrong place.”

Many of my fellow singers are regulars with RunBySingers, the British company that has brought us here and which specialises in trips that involve singing great pieces of music in great locations. Most are from the UK, but there are Finns, Americans

ON SONG