Introduction. A memoir work is most often studied, first of all, from the point of view of factual content, the reliability of historical and cultural facts, and then imagery and poetics. Modern literary criticism has repeatedly turned to this type of literature. However, researchers did not always match literary creativity with the cultural and creative influences of other art forms in their memoirs. Materials and methods. The main material of this study was the memoirs of N. D. Teleshov, presented in the memoir book “Writer’s Notes” (1925‒1943). For the analysis, historical-typological and hermeneutic methods are used, which fully reveal the features of the author's views on the “portrait” characteristics of musicians, singers, as well as on the musical trends of the early twentieth century. Research results, discussions. The artistic and documentary world of N. D. Teleshov is considered in the article at the level of problems, the ideological world, the specifics of the author's style, images associated with the perception of talented individuals with whom the writer came into contact on the literary “Wednesdays”. The writer recalls how V. E. Yermilov, artists of the Bolshoi Theater - bass S. G. Vlasov, tenor A. M. Uspensky, tenor N. N. Figner, baritone V. V. Korsov were perceived. A special place in the memoirs is given to meetings with F. I. Shalyapin, with composer S.V. Rakhmaninov. In each “portrait” N. D. Teleshov found special musical and singing talents. Using this book as an example, the work shows how the author not only creates “portrait” memories of famous and little-known singers and musicians, but also reflects the perception of the musical and singing culture of the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. Conclusion. The book “Writer’s Notes” is syncretic in its artistic nature. The article proves that the writer's work appears in the intertextual space of culture as a kind of response to the musical and singing works of the early 20th century.