[1] Oscar, who had received a degree of Doctor of Philosophy at Jena University in 1886, was president and majority owner of the large printing and publishing company H. Berthold AG,[2] and near the end of World War I the Kingdom of Württemberg would honor him with the Wilhelmkreuz, a recently created civilian decoration for merit in the war effort,[3] for his management of that company's metals business.
[1] At age six, Jolles played for the celebrated virtuoso and composer Eugen d'Albert, who subsequently greatly influenced the boy's musical development.
[4] After studying piano with Artur Schnabel and Edwin Fischer and composition with Paul Juon and, privately, with Kurt Weill, Jolles began to develop a successful performing career in the 1920s.
There, he had some success in re-establishing his performing career and, in 1940 or 1941, married Elisabeth Henriette Sauty de Chalon, but with the fall of France in 1940, Jolles came back into danger from the German occupation.
[4] Upon fleeing Germany for France after 1933, Jolles met with some success in re-establishing his career, from 1935-39 leading the concert society "La Sonata", but the German invasion forced him to start yet again in Brazil.
That disruption proved one too many; while he returned to touring in Europe in 1946 and in Germany in 1950, and around that time made long playing recordings for the American Haydn Society label,[4] he was unable to recapture his earlier success.