Re: transpose, transposition, and relative

[D Josiah Boothby]

In regards to the Horn and other instruments for which transpositions 
can change during the course of a piece, I should mention that the 
Lilypond way is much easier to deal with than, for instance, the Finale 
way (at least up until Finale 2001, the last version that I used 
regularly). Granted, the similarity in name between \transpose and 
\transposition is a little confusing, so a way to sort them out could be 
to remember that "transpose" is a verb: we apply a specific 
transpositional operation on the notes attached to it; where 
"transposition" is a noun, indicating how something is to be heard, 
relative to how it is written, so this makes sense in the context of midi 
realization.

\transpose can be used to transpose a motive, or a large section of a 
piece. This is a very helpful tool (thanks, Han-Wen and Jan!), and doesn't 
rely on a specific transpositional tradition so much as it is merely a 
tool to transpose notes from the originally typed form to a different 
place, such as sounding pitch, or a pleasant transposition for a musician 
to read.

I hope this is helpful.

Josiah