In the period after World War I, Dohnányi began composing nationalist works. This included his Pastorale on a Hungarian Christmas Song, which he premiered in Budapest on 27 December 1920. This work is based on a traditional Hungarian melody: the Christmas carol 'Mennyből az angyal' (The Angel from Heaven), a song about the angel who appeared before the shepherds to announce Jesus's birth. In keeping with the standard conventions for composing Pastorales, Dohnányi's contribution to the genre features drones in the bass that imitate shepherds' bagpipes and a lilting siciliana in the upper register that is reminiscent of shepherds' shawms. The Hungarian Christmas Song finally enters during the repetition of the siciliana, as counterpoint to that melody.