Classical Music as Relics for easy listening

WGMS only plays parts (one movement) of major works, so they can have a lot of commercial breaks. Again a symptom of being a for-profit commercial station.

You will hear a whole work on WBJC in Baltimore. They also broadcast whole live concerts and operas. WETA is kind of in-between. Listen to the Performance Today program some evening on WETA.

To get more recent classical compositions you need to go to live concerts with an orchestra willing to play these pieces. In NJ, we've been fortunate to have new music played at most concerts by the NJSO, and the Colonial Symphony in Morristown has been very good at scheduling contemporary pieces at its concerts as well; I've been inspired to search out recordings of many of these pieces as a result. Otherwise, it's difficult to hear this stuff on the radio except for college or NPR stations.

As far as programming goes, in NY we had WNCN for a while which switched its traditional classical format programming to Classical Lite (no Mahler, large choral works or anything past the classical period, it seemed) after having problems catching listeners with more varied fare; it's now long gone, replaced by a classic rock format. I too despair of formulaic programming like that; back in the 60s I could get R&B, Motown, West Coast rock, English rock, folk rock, everything on the same station in the same hour, now you need to go to the specialty stations for each type of music. We at least have WQXR in NY, and while it's not perfect it does offer a large variety of music compared to what you're describing.

But your complaint, both about the programming of orchestras and radio stations, unfortunately flies in the face of economic reality. Radio stations, save NPR, are commercial ventures driven by advertizing dollars, and these formats we've seen develop and take over are designed to give program directors a better chance to sell advertizing slots. More and more broadcasters are larger entities, afraid to go against the flow of formats that are established. Orchestras are already in deep financial peril (in NJ, the governor, not without good reasons, has initially eliminated all arts funding in the budget), and have to give the people who support them what they want. Wasn't Slatkin sort of shown the door in St. Louis in part at least because of his insistence on programming new pieces in his concerts? The best orchestras mix new pieces in with the warhorses to educate their audiences without alienating them, but I can tell you even that is not without a lot of complaints from the audiences. Unless the younger concertgoers who want to hear contemporary pieces come back and start supporting their local orchestras with their money as well as their presence, it is likely that it will be difficult to get what you're looking for, I fear.

Sugarbrie, love the comment on Philip Glass! There's a knock-knock joke about him, where you keep repeating Knock-Knock, Who's There, Philip Glass over and over again! My friend Mr. McDuffie is a big fan of his work, having recorded the Glass concerto for Telarc, and he's been getting me a little more interested in his work (although I'll take the Adams and Rosza over the Glass anytime)--his feeling is that Glass appeals to people used to the repetitiveness of rock music, and I can see the point.

Here is a link that might interest you: http://www.theclassicalstation.org
Art music,because of its complexity,has never been and will never be as widely commercially successfull as music manufacured to sell consumer goods. It seems that every generation decries the decline of art music but the players,composers,and listeners continue to push forward the medium.
I would not presume to second guess the programming decisions of commercial radio stations but I can vote with the on/off control.
It seems to me that one person's sensual plain listening might be another persons musical plane listening. I'm not qualified to draw the line between those musical functions.
At the risk of sounding glib,if there is something you want to hear that your fm station does not play,play your own cd of it.
Taking the glibness risk one step forward, practice or teach someone an instrument,write something,or attend a concert.

Try XMRadio (satillite radio). It has 3 classical channels, one plays complete works, one is all vocal and one plays excerpts, kind of like classical-lite radio. Sound is like MP3 but there are no, I repeat, NO commercials. They also have special programming, live tapes, etc. that nobody else has outside of New York.

Try the german mail order house JPC you will find it on the net use Google.Reliable outfit I have ordered thousands of $ worth of cds,sacd,dvd -A and dvd music video.They take credit cards.They have a huge classical selections way beyond what we can find at home.Good luck.