The article is devoted to the problem of interaction between the cultures of East and West, examined using the example of the work of the St. Petersburg composer S. M. Slonimsky and his vocal cycle “Gazelles of Nadira”. The article highlights the contribution of the Uzbek poetess of the 19th century to culture, the features of her poetic style that influenced the concept and musical style of Slonimsky’s romances. The conclusion is made about the organic synthesis in music of the vocal cycle of the oriental style, typical of the musical culture of the 19th century, with the modern vocabulary of the master of the 20th–21st centuries.