In 1899 he married a young woman named Rosalie Texier. He got a job as music critic of a journal called "La revue blanche". He wrote his opera "Pélleas et Mélisande" which was performed at the Opéra-Comique. It was extremely successful and was performed 100 times there during the next ten years. He wrote exciting music for orchestra: "Fêtes galantes" and a work called "La Mer" ("The Sea") which he worked at while staying in Brighton on the south coast of England. It is one of the most exciting pieces of music about the sea.