Re: producing "archival" scores

[Jason Merrill]

Thanks for the interesting comments so far.  I want to refocus the
discussion slightly.  I didn't mean to get into a discussion about the
relative merits of lilypond as an entry tool, exactly, so take as a
temporary supposition that I want to enter music in lilypond right
now, but that at some future time, someone else wants to modify that
music in a program other than lilypond.  How can I do something now to
make that easiest?

Josiah makes the point that MusicXML is too verbose.  I agree;
however, it succeeds at it's stated goal of being a music interchange
format in that it is widely supported.  Is there another, better music
interchange format either available or in development?

So far, the best option was suggested by Tom: a tool called PDFtoMusic
Pro that converts PDF scores into MusicXML.  The pros are that it is
available right now, and that it presumably works.  Downsides are that
it is proprietary and not free, and takes what seems to me a rather
indirect route towards solving my particular problem.

Any other suggestions?  Any comments on the likelihood of being able
to compile lilypond into a music interchange format at some point in
the future?

Regards,

Jason Merrill