Abstract: The article examines the theme of music and features of the use of musical imagery in Alexei Apukhtin’s poetry. The object of the research are “poems for occasion”, friendly messages and dedications for musicians-friends as well as poems “Barrel organ”, “Life”, “Fate”. To Beethoven’s Symphony No.5 author gives historical-cultural comments on Apukhtin’s works, analyses their ideological and artistic meaning and form. The author pays special attention to analysing the biographical context, summarising the information on the poet’s friendly contacts with composers and musicians, on Apukhtin's perception of music, understanding of his aesthetic position. The other direction of the research is the analysis of the works, in which music is used as a basis for an allegorical depiction of the life path. The novelty of the research lies in the systematic consideration of the theme of music in Apukhtin's works. The article analyses in detail the works addressed to Petr Tchaikovsky, a friend of Apukhtin, demonstrates how their intonation and mood change from irony to sadness. These poems not only reflect the stages of the friendly relations between the poet and the composer, but give an assessment of their own creative destiny. The article reveals the polemical plan of the poem "A Singer in the Camp of Russian Composers" shows what innovations in contemporary opera Apukhtin rejects. The study pays particular attention to poems, the plot of which the poet bases on the very process of perceiving music when trying to find a verbal equivalent to a musical text.

Abstract: The subject of the study was the specifics of the image of the funeral rite in the works of Lermontov. The object of research is the novels "Vadim", "Hero of our time", poems "Demon", "Sashka", drama "Masquerade". The author of the article examines in detail the plot-compositional role of the funeral rite, the ways of its inclusion in the work, reveals the problem of the perception of death by the heroes, clarifies the nature of Lermontov's interaction with the folklore tradition. The article uses biographical, comparative-typological methods, the method of theoretical poetics, as well as methods of motivic and mythopoetic analysis of a literary work. The author of the article revealed the reasons for the inclusion of the funeral rite in the works, showed the attitude of Lermontov's heroes to death. The main conclusions of the study are the following: the funeral rite is the most frequent in Lermontov, which is explained biographically by the early loss of his mother. Scenes of funerals and burials are found in works of different genres, this determines the ways of their representation. In prose, the funeral rite is most often given in the form of a memory, while Lermontov is psychologically reliable, takes into account the peculiarities of memory, he places special emphasis on the perception of death by a child. Lermontov's funeral rite is associated with a female character, the funeral rite is often preceded by a wedding ceremony. The death of the heroine is interpreted as a return to her native land ("Bela") or the acquisition of eternal life.