The ''Broderzinger'' () or Broder singers, from

Brody Brody ( uk, Броди; russian: Броды, Brodï; pl, Brody; german: Brody; yi, בראָד, Brod) is a city in Zolochiv Raion of Lviv Oblast (province) of western Ukraine. It is located in the valley of the upper Styr River, approximately ...

Ukraine Ukraine ( uk, Україна, Ukraïna, ) is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the second-largest European country after Russia, which it borders to the east and northeast. Ukraine covers approximately . Prior to the ongoing Russian inv ...

, were

Jew Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""Th ...

ish itinerant performers in Austrian Galicia,

Romania Romania ( ; ro, România ) is a country located at the crossroads of Central Europe, Central, Eastern Europe, Eastern, and Southeast Europe, Southeastern Europe. It borders Bulgaria to the south, Ukraine to the north, Hungary to the west, S ...

, and

Russia Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a List of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia, Northern Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the ...

, professional or semiprofessional songwriters and performers, who from at least the early 19th century sang and danced, often in comic disguises, and who performed short

one-act plays A one-act play is a play that has only one act, as distinct from plays that occur over several acts. One-act plays may consist of one or more scenes. The 20-40 minute play has emerged as a popular subgenre of the one-act play, especially in writi ...

.https://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/judaica/ejud_0002_0019_0_19780.html Jewish virtual library They were often '' badchonim'' (traditional wedding entertainers) and meshorerim (singers in cantors' choirs). They were among the first to publicly perform

Yiddish Yiddish (, or , ''yidish'' or ''idish'', , ; , ''Yidish-Taytsh'', ) is a West Germanic language historically spoken by Ashkenazi Jews. It originated during the 9th century in Central Europe, providing the nascent Ashkenazi community with a ver ...

-language songs outside of

Purim Purim (; , ; see Name below) is a Jewish holiday which commemorates the saving of the Jews, Jewish people from Haman, an official of the Achaemenid Empire who was planning to have all of Persia's Jewish subjects killed, as recounted in the Boo ...

plays and wedding parties, and were an important precursor to

Yiddish theatre Yiddish theatre consists of plays written and performed primarily by Jews in Yiddish, the language of the Central European Ashkenazi Jewish community. The range of Yiddish theatre is broad: operetta, musical comedy, and satiric or nostalgic revues ...

. They erected miniature stages and entertained customers in taverns, wine cellars, and restaurant gardens.Zalmen Zylbercweig, ''Leksikon fun Yidishn teater'', Book one, pp. 216-217 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."). 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 Berl Broder (1817–1868), born Berl Margulis, was a Ukrainian Jew born in Podkamen,https://archive.org/details/nybc207372 Dray doyres̀: lider fun Berl Broder (Margulies), feliṭonen fun Yom Hatsyoni (Yitsḥaḳ Margulies), poemen un lider fun B ...

(1815–1868) - and Moyshe Prizament and his son

Shloyme Prizament Shloyme Prizament (1889-1973) (also Shlomo or Szlojme Prizament or Szlomo Prizment), Jewish composer, actor in the Yiddish theater, and '' badkhn'', son of Moyshe Prizament (a famous badkhn known as Moyshe Hibiner / Hibnever). Early years Born in ...

. 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' boo
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

Jewish singers Yiddish culture in Poland Yiddish culture in Romania Yiddish culture in Russia Yiddish culture in Ukraine Yiddish theatre Yiddish words and phrases Brody

External links

The Brody Singers
translated accounts in the

Yizkor book. {{Yiddish-stub Itinerant living