Lizzo plays James Madison's flute at Library of Congress 

Not only is she playing the flute beautifully, she is playing a flute that is not keyed to the normal flute she plays and that uses an antiquated simple keying system. The fact she can play it so well shows how much she knows about the flute and that she has studied historical musical instruments. This would be like you being able to not only translate a book fluently from one language to another but to translate it into Middle English at the same time sure you could do it, but it would take time, practice and years of study

She has studied the flute since she was a child, played with the New York Philharmonic, and made that flute sound like a magic flute played by Pan in Olympus. I would bet it never sounded this good before in the last 200 years.

She is a classically trained flautist who has played with symphonies.R and B is her other musical side.Y'all just seeing her classical side for the first time but if you know you know.

I had never heard or known about Madison's Crystal Flute, until Lizzo brought it to the forefront of contemporary historical recognition! 👏 👏 👏

Girl actually knows what she is doing, understands phrasing, breath structure, articulation, pitch. I love that she is bigger, has long nails and raps. She just brought in thousands of dollars to music programs in schools everytime she is recorded playing her flute. Playing an accoustic instrument teaches you to slave and try over and over to make a pretty sound. Doesn't matter how good you get, it's still hard to make it sound pretty. I spent over 100K learning to play the bassoon, the bass of the woodwind family. Girl is good and does good for all the little black girls and fat black boys around the world who now feel so proud to be learning an instrument. Queen!!! She should be and ambassador to the music community.

Omg. As a flute player, my respect for her just went up. She plays beautifully and learning the flute isn't easy

I am a flutist and it's been wonderful to hear this extremely talented woman play! I am thrilled that so many have been allowed to share this historic event with her. As a musician, I know how honored she felt to be the first one to play a rare and historic instrument. Thanks to Lizzo and the Library of Congress!

A flute without a flautist is an incredibly sad thing to me. She gave a beautifully made instrument life and purpose, and it is incredibly moving

THIS is what people are mad about?!? WTF this is beautiful

She has a skill. She is using her skill. I can't judge her for using that skill to play an instrument that I don't have the skill to play, because I'm not trained in that like she is. I would rather her play the instrument than for it to stay dormant. It has a history that many people can finally know more about. I think it's a great way to get people interested in James Madison and the war of 1812.

As a fellow flautist, she plays beautifully. And that acoustic in the end, wow!

I love how there are stories of negative opinions on her playing this. I had issues at first, due to her being a pop personality when we have tons of folks who have spent decades perfecting this instrument in orchestras across the nation. Then I sought it out and listened to her play, now standing corrected. I think her playing this adds to the education of it's existence, adds to her credibility as a musical talent, AND just plain worth smiling over. Well done ma'am, this was outstanding!

The last clip where she plays in the large chamber hall with the amazing acoustics just brought a tear to my eye. That was friggin beautiful!

James Madison's crystal flute sounds amazing!!! I had no idea such a thing existed. Thank you, Lizzo, for playing it so beautifully and bringing it to our attention.

I may not dig her style of music, but I can't deny that was beautiful and very impressive. She clearly is a very talented woman. Cheers Lizzo.

It is refreshing to see so many positive comments here. Lizzo is an amazing person and the bringer of music and joy. Although I know little of her pop music, I appreciate what she has done here. Good job Library Of Congress for inviting Lizzo to bring attention to the arts.

Classically trained flautist Lizzo plays James Madison's crystal flute in acoustically stunning space.

I don’t see why people are upset. She played beautifully despite being nervous. Did she twerk a bit? Yes, and so what? She is a beautiful lady, celebrating life and being alive. It’s not like she was in church or doing it with a Bible or something, and it’s about time those flutes got played!

Instruments were intended to be played......this flute should be made available to those accomplished for recording purposes, special concerts, and many other opportunities. What a great flute ambassador.

And then you realize she is playing this piece completely from memory. She is an amazing flautist.

She plays so beautifully, I'd love to hear her take on a classical album

Modern flute is completely diff than this one. She’s obviously studied musical history, classical, and knows the art of flutes throughout history. That’s like George Harrison receiving a 300 year old harp and playing it with no problem. She’s so incredibly talented.

The last piece, played in that beautiful room, was incredible! The music conjured images of sunny forests and magic.

Not the racists acting like they knew this flute existed before lizzo played it

The guys at work tried to make this a bad story. I'm glad this video is up to demonstrate that Lizzo has love and care for flutes. Shes extremely talented and I'm glad she's bringing these historical artifacts back into the light for others to enjoy.

I keep watching the last clip over and over. The flute sounds so beautiful, it sounds crystal clear (no pun intended) and the acoustics of the room just resonate the notes perfectly. Not to mention what she played fits so perfectly given the historical context. As you should, Lizzo!

That's so cool! I had no idea crystal flutes were a thing or that Lizzo could play the flute! It's so beautiful, she is so beautiful and thank you!

One of two things saved and she created beautiful notes with something no one else has ever played.

She treats it with a good amount of reverence, and shes a very good floutist. Very cool for her!

This is INCREDIBLE. I am so touched by this. To see an object that has gone unsung for centuries be able to touch the present thru such a talented flautist? That is history - past and present entwined. ❤❤❤

My dad is 78 and he was so mesmerized watching this 💗 proper human beings can only be happy and amazed by this and truly pleased that this was possible! Love you, Lizzo! Keep shining and you’ll blind them!

I'm a co-author on a research paper dedicated to that flute. It makes me so, so happy to be able to hear someone play it. It was made by Claude Laurent, and over the years the '''crystal''' glass, which was not actually leaded glass as the name implies but far less stable potash glass, became foggy and cloudy. The Library of Congress reached out to Dr. Isabelle Muller and the Vitreous State Lab of Catholic University to help them figure out why the flutes, and other glass items in their collection, were gradually losing theirtransparency Through both non-invasive UV fluorescence testing and chemical analysis of small chips taken from damaged portions at the joints where the flute can be disassembled into its component pieces, it was discovered the the water in the air (due to the INTENSE humidity from both DC summers and some of the flutes being played) was actually leaching the potassium from the glass, causing micro-fine cracking on the surface. This cracking phenomenon is known as "crizzling" and if left unchecked, it will eventually advance until there is nothing left of the glass but dust. The flutes are now safely stored in a humidity-controlled room (I've been allowed in there, and you can actually see it in the background of the shots where Ms. Lizzo plays some of the other flutes!) and carefully wiped down after every time they're even touched, to ensure that water does not linger on the surface of the instrument. The leaching process takes a very long time, and while it is accelerated at higher temperatures, one person playing the flute would do nothing. Especially not compared to the years it was allowed to sit in the summer's heat. The flute also would have been cleaned and dried properly and promptly after Ms. Lizzo played it, so all's well! No harm done!

I'm not a lizzo fan but my respect for her just went up. She is actually skilled

THANK YOU FOR POSTING THIS!!! The other clips I’ve seen so far had people talking over the audio, and this is the FIRST TIME I’VE ACTUALLY BEEN ABLE TO HEAR THE AUDIO. I’m over the moon about getting to hear this! She is absolutely PHENOMENAL, and that instrument sounds so magical. 💗💗💗💗💗💗💗

I love how she plays the flute with so much joy. She’s just a joy to listen to.

That's one of the most beautiful sounding western flutes I've ever heard. She really made it sing!

she's amazing. she should do a flute album

I never cared much for Lizzo before this and was dismissive of her, thinking she was just a pop culture product...but now I know she is very thoughtful and multi talented. Respect. Anyone crying about this and not seeing her humanity and reverence for the history is a snowflake.

You can see how much love she has for the music and instruments and just how excited she is to be playing them. She is so genuine and pure here and people are mad, f that noise, I’ll listen to her any day

The sound that flute makes in the reading room with those acoustics brought tears to my eyes. So beautiful

This is revolutionary in a way, James Madison was extremely racist and fought for segregation and the fact we have come so far now that a woman of color can play it in such historical places is amazing.

I get literal chills and goosebumps hearing her play. It sounds so beautiful and otherworldly. She could legitimately perform a song in LOTR or another big TV series and make it come alive. I can't get over how beautifully she sings and how beautifully she plays the flute. Lizzo is an incredible artist and she has incredible messages in her music. thank you for sharing. ❤️

I am so psyched to learn about this instrument and that it got played for the contemporary audience by such an accomplished flautist!!

It’s great to see a pop star with actual musical talent

I've never known this flute existed in the first place She's an icon literally, love it for her!

She reminded a lot of people that you can be a pop musician and a classically trained musician at the same time.

the idea that a flute is old and crystal scares me because i would drop it, and yet she holds it so gently and beautifully

Good on her, she's clearly very talented. Might not be my type of music, but she's doing really well for herself. It's abundantly clear why people dislike her, they're just too cowardly to say out loud.

Her face is like how I would be if I were granted the opportunity to play an OG Stradivarius like how WILD

She's extremely talented. I mean, I knew she could sing, I did NOT know she played the flute. That takes a lot of skill and talent. Go Lizzo, go!

That crystal flute is one of the most magical things I've ever heard and Lizzo is such a delight ❤️

The theme is from Paganini's Carnival of Venice. Very light and delightful play.

“There was a fire” the British burnt down the White House lol

Damn, I want a full Lizzo performance of the Poulenc sonata now!

I didn’t know that Lizzo was an accomplished flutist! That’s awesome and amazing !

I am not a musician and not an expert on the flute but I can say that I do love the flute and love to hear it in classical music. I think her playing is beautiful. She sounds very accomplished to my untrained ears.

Everyone does understand the picture of Washington and the flute being saved when the house was burned down was the white house, and it was the British who burned it down on August 24, 1814. That flute hasn't been played in over 200 years, if ever. I'm jealous. I started playing trumpet in 1977 and never played anything older than the horn I started with.

lizzo is a trained flutist. she's been playing it since she was 10. I think it's great people are realizing she actually has talent ❤️

Her playing that at her concert probably changed so many kids minds about what they can & can't achieve. As young people of color how many times have they seen an idol do something like That!?! Never I'm guessing. I was fortunate my school sent us to the symphony and other musical events, mostly the symphony and it does help a kid learn more. Music can change everything. And she just changed someone's life.

This needs its own PBS SPECIAL. It is ABSOLUTELY FASCINATING.

Classically trained flutist who has spent time with the famous orchestras, helps bring attention and knowledge to unique and historic flutes in the U.S. Seems great to me.

I’m sure the artisan who created it had no intention that it would be put away for centuries and never played. I’m so thrilled this happened.

that last clip is so incredible. the clarity of the sound is amazing

He never even played the damn flute he obviously didn’t gaf about it people are so insane to be mad about this

Y’all pressed about the twerking but ignoring the fact that she’s amazing at playing a difficult instrument WHILE and having fun. Stfu and enjoy the fact that it didn’t break

I used to play flute as a kid- it is such a magical instrument and so is Lizzo ♡ hearing her play in those bigger spaces, including her concert, must have been heavenly! This makes me so happy 😊

I'd be terrified of dropping a crystal flute and it shattering! When I would play my metal one, my hands would get sweaty so I couldn't imagine playing something made of glass. Good on Lizzo! She got a beautiful sound out of it.

Just when you think you can't love lizzo more she shows up and shows out! The girl is talented! Thank you for bringing these pieces of history to light and spark and motivate the youth on music. Inspiring young people to learn music and play instruments. I actually will love to go see these pieces at the museum.

I never knew she played so well! Classical flute music is very difficult to play, and especially solo.

What a talent she is. And her joy over here passion is contagious.

So, I heard some people got upset a black lady played a flute, that's literally all I heard so I asked about it an got a link. I read the article an watched a few videos of her playing various flutes. One she played in a big room that had lots of natural reverb an she played something really cool sounding so I thought I'd check her out on RU-vid. Come to find out she's a pop star or rapper, not really my thing but that's okay. I am disappointed I haven't found more of her playing a flute though, I wanted to hear more of that. She's quite talented........ I never knew Libray Of Congress had old flutes, I bet they have a bunch of other stuff too.... To think people got upset over this, so silly.

Not a HUGE fan of Lizzo, but she is a very talented flautist, and what an honor to be able to play this instrument, and what an honor for the instrument to be played again and by someone so talented. That was a huge run on sentence but you get me. She clearly loves the flute and her passion comes through. Respect.

Why are people BIG mad? She was amazing!

It sounds so much more deep and woody than I imagined it would!!

That flute sounds lovely! So happy she was able to play it for all of us to hear ❤

I did not expect her to play so beautifully omg She gave life to this instrument!!!

Lizzo is so amazing and talented! I knew she played the flute but I don’t think I’d heard her. She’s freaking awesome.

To be honest I think Lizzo is a fantastic performer. I don't know many of her songs but have listened to her talk quite a bit on Instagram live. She's very intelligent and funny. Could've easily became a stand up comedian. This just adds to her coolness in my opinion

You know what I would love, love LOVE to hear LIzzo play on this flute? The flute solo from the 3rd movement of Grieg's piano concerto. There's no way of course that this flute will ever be played in an orchestra for a complete performance of the concerto, because it will never leave the library of Congress, but it would be beautiful to hear that one passage. And you COULD get a small Baroque ensemble in there, Carla Hayden, to perform Vivaldi's "Goldfinch" concerto. What do you think? I think it would be awesome, especially that lyrical second movement. What do you think, Madame Librarian?

Instead of pitching a fit, the Reichwing should be applauding Lizzo for 1. giving us a history lesson and 2. very possibly introducing a whole new group of people to "classical" music. Kudos to Lizzo!

I didn't even know she could play. It sounds very similar to wood.

Lizzie is better with a flute than Ben Shapiro is with a violin.

She's so talented, I wish they would have asked her opinion on the quality of the instruments and which was her favorite.

No bc I only started playing the flute bc of this amazing human!! And the fact she can play the flute with nails longer than my will of living is even better!!

Absolutely beautiful! Too bad she can’t get regular time with the crystal flute. I imagine it would take time to truly master such a finely tuned instrument and she was already making gorgeous music in the short time she had it.

All that racism holding her back 😭

This made me tear up. She is a true Icon. Black, overweight, woman who overcame so much and has so much talent. I love watching her grow. What an inspiration

Wait… this is what people are complaining about?? That was beautiful!

she plays beautifully, we're so lucky to be able to listen to someone so skilled play such a unique instrument, and for it to be able to be shared with so many people like this

Musical instruments are meant to be played. And she played it beautifully.

As much as I want to hear her play a specific song, and she often doesn't, I like that she improvises her own beautiful sound-bites when she is given a flute to play.

The acoustics in the library was awesome. I would absolutely get an album if it was all flute songs done by lizzo.

Just an FYI for everyone in the comments complaining. These instruments get played whether you like or not behind the scenes. The Smithsonian in particular had a whole program where they went through their string instrument collection to get some of the only recordings of some of these historic pieces. Instruments are meant to be played not rot away in some drawer for eternity.

Those flutes NEED to be played! Go Lizzo!

Carnival of Venice! Idk who Lizzo is but she has a BEAUTIFUL tone especially with the acoustics of the hall. Goes to show not all classical musicians are boring 👏

she is playing that flute so beautifully

This... is what people are outraged over? Made it seem like she was gonna play the thing without any experience when it's the complete opposite. She gave the old flute some life, good for her.

The last one she plays sounds ethereal

I am a 5th grader and i am learning how to play flute. DAMN! u go gurl

her laugh at the end of playing each one 🥹🥹💛