Transit of Venus March was written in 1883 to celebrate the 1882 transit of Venus, an event that happens every 243 years when Venus passes between the Sun and the Earth. The work was erroneously thought to be lost for over 100 years until a piano transcription published in 1896 was found in the Library of Congress. This edition received its first performance by the United States Marine Band on June 6, 2012, which is also the date the actual transit of Venus occurred.