Following a brief survey into the history of the ballet d’action, the article examines the techniques of musique parlante Dohnányi used in his pantomime Der Schleier der Pierrette. The subcategories illustrated with music examples include the direct speech imitation (focusing on the syllabic and rhythmic structure of single words) and the musical analogy of the question-answer complex. The analytical overview is extended to further indirect categories such as the recitative-like structures (built up not merely on speech, but on an already emancipated equivalent, the instrumental recitative) and the leitmotif technique which – although being more distant from speech – can, in some cases, still be seen as part of musique parlante. In an attempt to describe the position of Der Schleier der Pierrette in ballet music history, the author addresses Béla Bartók’s reception of Dohnányi’s pantomime and distinguishes the tradition followed by Dohnányi from the denial of musique parlante characteristic of the works Igor Stravinsky composed for the Ballets Russes.