Natalya Satina was born 26 May 1877, the second of four children of Alexander Alexandrovich Satin (1844-1926) and Varvara Arkadyevna Rachmaninoff (1852-1941). Her mother, Varvara, was the sister of the composer's father, Vasily Arkadyevich Rachmaninoff (1841-1916). Thus, she was both the composer's wife and first cousin.

Sergei and Natalya met as young music students during Easter 1888. Rachmaninoff later roomed with the Satin family. Natalya wrote, "in September 1901 my parents finally succumbed to my pleas to be allowed to marry Sergei Vasiliyevich. All that was left was to obtain legal permission, which was not easy since we were closely related. [Marriage of first cousins was barred in the Russian Orthodox Church.] My mother took on the challenge with her one-of-a-kind energy and zeal. She thus bustled all through winter, and only in March it transpired that a petition had to be sent to the Czar. The wedding was postponed till the end of April due to the arrival of Lent. Early in April Sergei went to Ivanovka and sat down to write twelve romances, deciding to turn out one daily to earn money for our trip to Italy after the wedding." These are the 12 Romances for voice and piano, Opus 21.

Of their wedding day she wrote, "We were wed on 29 April 1902 on the outskirts of Moscow in some regimental church. I rode in the carriage in my wedding dress, with the rain pouring relentlessly. The sole entry into the church was via a long succession of barracks. The soldiers stared at us in amazement."

In 1938, RCA Victor in New York City recorded Sergei and Natalya playing his 4-hand piano duet, Polka Italienne.

The Rachmaninoffs loved their two daughters, Irina and Tatyana, and two grandchildren, Sophia Wolkonsky and Alexandre Rachmaninoff-Conus. After the composer's death in 1943, Natalia was instrumental in the donation of the Rachmaninoff Archive to the U.S. Library of Congress. Alexandre initated the Sergei Rachmaninoff Foundation

She died of a heart attack in Manhattan on 17 January 1951.