At age 14, in 1895, despite his parents' objections, he moved to Germany and became a pupil of Friedrich Grützmacher at the Dresden Conservatory in Leipzig, and through him met violinist Joseph Joachim as well as Johannes Brahms and began to play in his orchestra.

Students from around the world came to study with him at this time, including Gabriel Cusson, Maurice Eisenberg, Antonio Janigro, Gregor Piatigorsky, Hidayat Inayat Khan, Pierre Fournier, Rodica Sutzu, and Emmanuel Feuermann.

During his tenure at the school, Alexanian published his 1922 book on cello technique, Traite Theorique et Pratique du Violoncelle, as well as his famous edition of the Bach Suites in 1929.

[1] Diran Alexanian's first attempts at composing during the course of his studies in Germany were his choral works written for the choir of the Protestant church.

This Suite was performed for the first time at a gala in honor of the famous Armenian writer and journalist Arshak Chobanian at Paris's Gaveau concert hall.