Lebanon Valley College

Blair Music Center - Organ-Choral Room - Kney Pipe Organ

When planning began for a new music center in the early 1970s at Lebanon Valley College, now-retired Professor of Music and fellow Chapter member Pierce Getz set his sights on having a variety of organ builders represented in the new facility with one tracker  organ for teaching. At the time there were four organs on campus, each built by the Möller Organ Company. One of those was retained, rebuilt and installed in the new building as a practice instrument where it remains today along with Holtkamp and Schlicker practice instruments. Dr. Getz remarked that at that time in the early 1970s the “Tracker movement” was really beginning to take a serious place in the organ world. Dr. Getz also wanted a tracker instrument to show the students that sensitivity found in a well-built tracker action. After research and study, the college decided to purchase a two-manual Gabriel Kney tracker organ of 26 ranks which cost $48,000.

Gabriel Kney (b. 1929) was German by birth, studied organ building in his hometown of Speyer with Paul Sattel, then four years as assistant to Franz Nagel while studying church music at the Bischöfl Institute. Kney moved to London, Ontario, in 1951 to work for another organ builder and later he founded his own company, Gabriel Kney and Co., in 1967. He built over 110 organs (The Canadian Encyclopedia © 2005 Historica Foundation of Canada).

The organ at Lebanon Valley College was installed in 1975 in the Organ-Choral room on the main floor of the Blair Music Center. It was used in a pre-convention recital for the Organ Historical Society in 1976. Pierce Getz presented half of that recital on the Kney and the other half on the Schantz in the Chapel.

While a student at Lebanon Valley, I studied exclusively on the Kney my first three semesters. At the time I longed to play the big Chapel organ, but as Dr. Getz noted and I now understand clearly, having that time spent with a fine tracker instrument taught me so much through the intimate control it gives.

Gabriel Kney, Lebanon Valley College, Blair Music Center
Tracker Action / Electric Stop Action     26 ranks;  1,240 pipes
Manual Compass: 56 notes, Pedal compass: 32 notes

I—Great (unenclosed)
8’ Rohrflöte 56 pipes
4’ Prinzipal 56 pipes
2’ Blockflöte 56 pipes
IV Mixtur (1 1/3’) 224 pipes
8’ Trompete 56 pipes

 II—Swell (enclosed)
8’ Gedeckt 56 pipes
4’ Flöte 56 pipes
2 2/3’ Nasat 56 pipes
2’ Prinzipal 56 pipes
1 3/5’ Terz 56 pipes
III Scharff (2/3’) 168 pipes
8’ Schalmey 56 pipes

 Pedal (unenclosed)
16’ Subbass 32 pipes
8’ Prinzipal 32 pipes
8’ Gedeckt 32 pipes
4’ Choralbass 32 pipes
IV Mixture (2 2/3’) 128 pipes
8’ Trompete 32 pipes

Tremulant I

Tremulant II  

Couplers: I / P       II / P II / I

6 General pistons on toe studs, General canceller