There are few works in the history of Western art music that have been more celebrated and mythologised than Johann Sebastian Bach's late collection, The Art of the Fugue. Was it the last work of the greatest counterpoint artist of all time? Why did he not finish the last fugue? Why does the manuscript break where the musical motif B-A-C-H appears? Why did someone write a collection of fugues in the 1740s when the prevailing musical style favoured pieces with simple melodies and even simpler accompaniments? The three-part lecture series by music historian Gergely Fazekas will try to answer these questions. Fazekas will discuss the context of contemporary music history, the theoretical debates about the fugue genre, the complex history of the collection's creation and, of course, the music itself. What does this abstract fugue collection from the mid-18th century has to do with the 21st century? All this and more will be revealed in the lecture series, which will conclude with a performance of the complete piece by pianist László Borbély in the BMC Concert Hall on 13 December at 7pm.