It was clearer in the 18th century, when parts were not transposed but written in one of the appropriate 9 movable clefs. It's the 19th century publishers who confused things by transposing the parts.
John
Not true. First of all, trumpet and horn parts were transposed even in the seventeenth century. Second, the use of transposition was thoroughly established by the 1760s at least. You won't see Classic-period English horn, clarinet or bassethorn parts in C clefs any time soon! Third, the cause of the change had nothing to do with publishers, because at the time the vast majority of performance parts still circulated in MS. Customs changed because a) the variety and importance of instruments built in various keys had increased dramatically, b) partly because of this increased variety (and partly because of the spread of equal temperament) composers were feeling increasingly free to write in exotic keys, c) players were increasingly specializing in just one type of instrument, and d) the application of keys to WW insts. made it increasingly important that the notation of their parts consistently reflect their fingering patterns.
All these pressures continued and increased into the 19th c.
-- Andrew Stiller Kallisti Music Press
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