In 1902 Rachmaninov married his cousin, Natalia Satin, and in 1903 their first daughter, Irina, was born. This decade was a busy and highly productive one for Rachmaninov. As well as conducting for two seasons at the Bolshoi Theatre in Moscow, he composed many pieces, including his operas Francesca and The Miserly Knight, his second symphony (1907), the Piano Sonata No. 1 (1907), the Piano Concerto No. 3 (1909), and his orchestral piece, The Bells.
The Russian Revolution in 1917 threw...