ABSTRACT. Carmen-Cohen contends that non-Western cultures attach importance to the "function" of musical activity, to the musical instrument, and to the numerous connections between music and world around it. Schwartz and Godfrey affirm that many of the sources from which Western composers draw stem from cultures that are synchronic: they attach no value to concepts of cultural and societal change or progress. Huron asserts that the traditional rules of voice-leading in Western music are explained using experimentally established perceptual principles. Cash explores the vision and social meaning of "traditional life" created when folkloric ensembles perform on stage.