Recent results concerning structural and optical features of the sol-gel silica glasses with semiconductor (copper selenide) and metal (copper) nanoparticles are presented. The preparation procedure was elaborated as the flexible sequence to control chemical composition and properties of the particles in sol-gel-derived silica matrix. Structure and properties of materials were characterized with TEM, XRD and optical spectroscopy. The principal optical features of the glasses with copper nanoparticles are the plasmon resonance band. Copper selenide nanoparticles within the glasses reveal both semiconductor-like absorption band and the near-IR absorption.