Integrating Lilypond with more complex LaTeX documents

In a previous post, I described my trials and tribulations in getting the Lilypond music-engraving package to work with TeXShop, a Mac-based front-end for the LaTeX typesetting system. The example used to illustrate the technique was a rather simple document, with no included external images or files.

As I've continued my rediscovery of LaTeX (having first been exposed to it as an undergraduate), I've come to realize that the rather straightforward techniques I had described previously break down when dealing with more complex documents.  This first came to light when I attempted to incorporate Lilypond content into a LaTeX document built with the Tufte-LaTeX classes, a collection of layout classes created to render LaTeX documents using the design principals of Edward Tufte, author of The Visual Display of Quantitative Information, and one of the worlds foremost experts on the presentation of information. A self-documenting example of the output of the Tufte-LaTeX book class can be seen here.

Making Lilypond work with TeXShop

I have a confession to make. I have a secret desire to someday write a book on music theory, if only to have the opportunity to start the chapter on key signatures with a quote from Harry Chapin:

Those of you who are musically inclined will note that we have switched to a minor key, which of course means that the plot is about to thicken.

But, hey, how to pull this off? Typesetting a book that would contain equations describing the properties of sound is tough. The best tool for that would be LaTeX (with which I am fond of using the TeXShop front-end). And music engraving is even tougher. Quite frankly, most computer-generated music notation is of very poor quality. Fortunately there is Lilypond, which ostensibly can be made to work with TeXShop.