When I first heard that MPBN was going to cast off its last vestiges of classical music my mind immediately went to thoughts of the late, great Robert J. Lurtsema and how he must surely be turning in his grave.

Back in the day when public radio didn’t rely so heavily on donor contributions, its overall content was predominantly cultural in orientation. Cultural, that is, in the sense of promoting the arts rather than cultural as in meaning that which informs one’s social behavior and politics. Despite some accusations of a liberal agenda in what little airtime was given to topical issues, public radio was mostly a devoted classical music format dedicated to an appreciation of a timeless artistic legacy and its contemporary aesthetic expression.

For many loyal followers, “Robert J.” was one’s morning wake-up call by what would be a day-long elevated music venue. Public radio’s non-commercial freedom provided escape from all the hectic sameness of popular entertainment stations aired on the mainstream radio dial. That freedom enabled its programming to cater solely to a pursuit of cultural excellence and edification rather than a bottom line dictated by generally expected and accepted taste.

Lurtsema’s “Morning Pro Musica” religiously opened with his own recorded bird songs, the music of nature leading into classical works that intelligently occupied the next five hours, interrupted now and then by his own compilation of the news of the day and live interviews with those classical music luminaries dropping into his WGBH Boston radio studio. For me, the most memorable interview was his convincingly one-sided vocal exchange with a contrived Marcel Marceau, drolly and imaginatively celebrating that year’s April 1st.

Many people couldn’t abide his signature radio style of unhurried commentary, impromptu asides and long meditative pauses accompanying his erudite musical observations. Others found him a welcomed respite from all the hustle and bustle encountered elsewhere. Many, like I, found him a trusted and appealingly idiosyncratic music mentor. I remember reading something written during his heyday crediting his show with single-handedly resurrecting classical music’s popular appreciation in America. He was radio’s musical equivalent of Julia Child’s singular culinary instruction.

In the afternoon and evenings MPBN still offered classical fare, but in a far less distinctive manner. Then, public radio’s classical underpinning slowly began to be eroded by the non-aesthetic offerings of radio journalism. After Robert J.’s death, MPBN’s classical presence valiantly persevered but something irreversible was being set in motion that even another radio anchor of Lurtsema’s caliber couldn’t salvage. Maine’s public radio was being steadily reformatted towards talk radio’s addictive immediacy rather than maintaining a reflective haven of cultural stewardship. I’ve often wondered whether this was necessitated by the actual demands of listener funding, or orchestrated by internal professional ambitions. I myself drifted away.

The constancy of Sirius’ Symphony and WBACH eventually became my go-to classical programming. For those that still remained loyal supporters of Maine Public Radio’s 46 year commitment to championing serious music’s expression that long history has officially come to an end. Robert J’s heroically civilizing aesthetic is now even more of an endangered species.

Evidently, most of today’s MBPN listeners prefer to spend time with Diane Rehm than with Mozart or Schubert. Interactive call-in journalism apparently generates better pledge-drive revenues than airwaves filled with the world’s greatest musical artistry.

MPBN says that, “all things considered,” it could no longer accommodate the multitasking format of the past. Competing audience tastes have demanded both more news and information and more music and arts. To accomplish that, MPBN decided to split those interests into two distinctly different stations, using HD digital technology to piggyback on its established analog signal. Maine Public Radio has become a news-information only format. Separately, Maine Public Classical now provides expanded music programming.

Sounds like a win-win solution. Better still, the musical programming gains the additional benefit of HD’s enhanced sound. Maybe Lurtsema himself would actually approve.

Trouble is, only four dedicated analog signals now carry the new classical format and HD requires special compatible technology for its reception. More troublesome still, those that have been longstanding classical fans from MPBN’s inception, older and less likely to embrace change, are the ones asked to embrace a new technology’s inconvenient expense and hoop jumping. Acknowledging that reality, MPBN promises to create enough new analog capacity to eventually provide statewide normal FM reception of its full-time classical rebirth.

The question is: “Why not do the reverse?” Why not initially air Maine Public Classical on the existing statewide FM system and ask those that want 24-7 news and talk radio to change their means of access?

I’ll not be returning to classical public broadcasting immediately via HD or online streaming, but I will be returning. Any and all additional access to classical music is welcomed.

The real rub isn’t MPBN’s corporate decision, but that it underscores how our perception and expectation of culture is being undermined by an increasing addiction to endless information consumption and a further compartmentalization of our media.

Elevated artistic expression shouldn’t be a niche market. One will never acquire an appreciation of something to which one isn’t exposed.

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Gary Anderson lives in Bath.