> I just copied and pasted the same code into lilypond using Frescobaldi and got the error. The score does not renders….
OK, so the code itself is not the problem. This feels to me like an incompatibility between the LilyPond installation and the operating system. Maybe some incompatible library, either because the OS is much older or newer, or because installation of another program has changed something unexpectedly. Or even a hardware problem - but you'd expect to see other problems in that case. Such things are hard to deal with remotely...
> Now I am using 2.18 instead of 2.23 but I doubt that is the problem…
It isn't; the exact same code compiles on 2.18.2 (the version on the LilyBin.com site at which you can do compilations on-line).
>How do you tie chords ? Is it with ~? I thought maybe that was my problem?
Ties are indicated by ~ and that's that; there cannot be a problem there. Chords can be tied on all notes by placing it after the whole chord, or you can place it after individual notes in the chord for special requirements.
It's not causing your problem, but why use phrasing slurs: " \(" "\)? Plain slurs: "(" ")" are that bit easier to write and read. They are, as far as I know, identical in behaviour - I think phrasing slurs were simply introduced to get over the restriction that slurs cannot be nested in a voice.
Paul