Broder singer

{{Short description|Jewish itinerant performers in Galicia, Romania, and Russia}} The '''''Broderzinger''''' ({{Langx|yi|בראָדער זינגער}}) or '''Broder singers''', from [[Brody]] in [[Ukraine]], were [[Jew]]ish itinerant performers in Austrian [[Galicia (Eastern Europe)|Galicia]], [[Romania]], and [[Russia]], professional or semiprofessional songwriters and performers,<ref name="yivo">{{Cite web |title=YIVO {{!}} Songs and Songwriters |url=https://yivoencyclopedia.org/printarticle.aspx?id=2195 |access-date=2022-12-21 |website=yivoencyclopedia.org}}</ref> who from at least the early 19th century sang and danced, often in comic disguises, and who performed short [[one-act play]]s.<ref>https://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/judaica/ejud_0002_0019_0_19780.html Jewish virtual library</ref> They were often ''[[badchen|badchonim]]'' (traditional wedding entertainers) and meshorerim (singers in cantors' choirs).<ref name=yivo/> They were among the first to publicly perform [[Yiddish]]-language songs outside of [[Purim]] plays and wedding parties, and were an important precursor to [[Yiddish theatre]]. They erected miniature stages and entertained customers in taverns, wine cellars, and restaurant gardens.<ref name=zalmen>Zalmen Zylbercweig, ''Leksikon fun Yidishn teater'', Book one, pp. 216-217</ref>

The first written records of the Broder singers are the remarks of Jews passing through Brody, which was a trading center on a major route of travel ("a stopping point on the travels of Russian Jewish merchants to and from the Leipzig fair."<ref name=yivo/>). These records are generally disapproving of the singing of songs when no religious occasion called for music.

Later the term Broder Singer was applied to performers who had no connection with Brody.

Among the most famous Broder singers were Berl Margulis - better known as [[Berl Broder]] (1815–1868) - and Moyshe Prizament and his son [[Shloyme Prizament]]. Some of Berl Broder's original songs, along with the works of his son and grandson who continued the tradition of secular Yiddish writing, can be found in his grandson Ber Margulies' book [https://archive.org/details/nybc207372 Dray doyres̀ lider fun Berl Broder (Margulies), feliṭonen fun Yom Hatsyoni (YitsḥaḳMargulies), poemen un lider fun Ber Margulies (1957)] (free online download from the Yiddish Book Center).

==References== {{reflist}}

==External links== * [https://www.jewishgen.org/Yizkor/brody/bro096.html The Brody Singers] translated accounts in the [[Brody]] [[Yizkor books|Yizkor book]].

{{DEFAULTSORT:Broder Singer}} [[Category:Jewish singers]] [[Category:Yiddish culture in Poland]] [[Category:Yiddish culture in Romania]] [[Category:Yiddish culture in Russia]] [[Category:Yiddish culture in Ukraine]] [[Category:Yiddish theatre]] [[Category:Brody]] [[Category:Itinerant living]]