[2] He was born in Odessa, a distant cousin of Adolf Barjansky (c. 1850 – 1900 Odessa, Russian Empire), a composer of classical music for solo piano and chamber music ensembles in the Romantic tradition, and his son, also a virtuoso cellist, Serge Barjansky.

Among his early concert appearances were the Lalo's Concerto with the Wiener Konzertverein on 4 March 1910 and in 1911 a recital with the pianist Arthur Schnabel in Prague [1] Barjansky was the dedicatee of Ernest Bloch's Schelomo and gave the first performance of the Cello Concerto by Frederick Delius in Vienna in 1923.

In Delius As I Knew Him, Eric Fenby writes of Barjansky: "I was not prepared to find so unusual-looking a man.

He was of medium height, pale and thin, but he had a striking head, with high forehead and a mass of long bushy hair.

And Jelka Delius wrote: "He looks extraordinary when he plays, so ecstatic with a delicate, sensitive face and hair like an Italian primitive."