1859 was a year full of dynamic breakthroughs in technologically (particularly transportation), the arts, and philosophy. Darwin, Marx, Wagner, and Brahms produced some of their greatest works, ushering in a new world of bold ideas that disrupted the old ways of thinking. Musically, the Tristan chord initiated the move away from traditional tonal harmony, and even toward atonality. And in Gounod's Faust, evil becomes commonplace, and Mephistopheles is shown as just a regular guy.

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