A glass flute or crystal flute is a glass instrument briefly popular in the early 19th century. They are an unusual variety of the

Western concert flute The Western concert flute can refer to the common C concert flute or to the family of transverse flute, transverse (side-blown) flutes to which the C flute belongs. Almost all are made of metal or wood, or a combination of the two. A musician w ...

designed to preserve pitch and tone during temperature change better than the wood and ivory flutes available at the time of their manufacture. Most were made by Claude Laurent, a French craftsman and clockmaker who patented the leaded crystal glass flute in 1806. They became obsolete after metal flutes were produced. Other than sounding more consistent at differing temperatures, glass flutes are similar in tone to contemporary wooden and ivory flutes. Laurent's glass flutes were manufactured in Paris in the early 19th century. About 185 of Laurent's instruments are known to have survived, with the United States

Library of Congress The Library of Congress (LOC) is a research library in Washington, D.C., serving as the library and research service for the United States Congress and the ''de facto'' national library of the United States. It also administers Copyright law o ...

holding 17 of these. Two are kept at Museu de la música in Spain.

Construction

Some of the flutes built by Laurent are lead crystal and some are

potash Potash ( ) includes various mined and manufactured salts that contain potassium in water- soluble form.

glass. To reduce weight and provide ornamentation, crystal flutes are cut with

facet Facets () are flat faces on geometric shapes. The organization of naturally occurring facets was key to early developments in crystallography, since they reflect the underlying symmetry of the crystal structure. Gemstones commonly have facets cu ...

s or fluting on the outside. The interior surface is precision ground and polished. Joints between the glass sections are

silver Silver is a chemical element; it has Symbol (chemistry), symbol Ag () and atomic number 47. A soft, whitish-gray, lustrous transition metal, it exhibits the highest electrical conductivity, thermal conductivity, and reflectivity of any metal. ...

. Some crystal flutes used natural

quartz Quartz is a hard, crystalline mineral composed of silica (silicon dioxide). The Atom, atoms are linked in a continuous framework of SiO4 silicon–oxygen Tetrahedral molecular geometry, tetrahedra, with each oxygen being shared between two tet ...

crystal end-caps. Laurent introduced the system of mounting flute keys on pillars, an innovation which became a standard that has outlived the popularity of the glass flute.

James Madison's crystal flute

Claude Laurent sent a crystal flute to

James Madison James Madison (June 28, 1836) was an American statesman, diplomat, and Founding Fathers of the United States, Founding Father who served as the fourth president of the United States from 1809 to 1817. Madison was popularly acclaimed as the ...

to commemorate Madison's second inauguration as U.S. President in 1813. The flute was then rescued from the

White House The White House is the official residence and workplace of the president of the United States. Located at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue Northwest (Washington, D.C.), NW in Washington, D.C., it has served as the residence of every U.S. president ...

in April 1814 by the White House servants under the direction of First Lady Dolley Madison as the British entered Washington, D.C. during the

War of 1812 The War of 1812 was fought by the United States and its allies against the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, United Kingdom and its allies in North America. It began when the United States United States declaration of war on the Uni ...

. Today the flute is held by the

, which is believed to have the largest flute collection in the world. In 2022, musical artist and classically trained flautist

Lizzo Melissa Viviane Jefferson (born April 27, 1988), known professionally as Lizzo (), is an American singer and rapper. Born in Detroit, Michigan, she moved to Houston, Texas, with her family at the age of ten. After college, she moved to Minn ...

was invited by

Librarian of Congress The librarian of Congress is the head of the Library of Congress, appointed by the president of the United States with the advice and consent of the United States Senate, for a term of ten years. The librarian of Congress also appoints and overs ...

Carla Hayden Carla Diane Hayden (born August 10, 1952) is an American librarian who served as the 14th librarian of Congress. Hayden was both the first African American and the first woman to hold this post. Appointed in 2016, she was the first professional ...

to view the Library's flute collection. While at the Library of Congress, Lizzo requested to play the Madison flute in concert. She then played it onstage at Capital One Arena, briefly twerking during the performance. After playing, she stated to the audience, "I just twerked and played James Madison's crystal flute from the 1800s. We just made history tonight."

References

{{Flutes Flutes Crystallophones James Madison