An opening burst of orchestral color soars, but gets muted in a haze of French horns.

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Many French horns, for example, are made of nickel silver, an alloy of copper, zinc, and nickel (it's silver in name and color only), and some are made of nickel bronze, an alloy of copper, tin, and nickel. (Brass itself is an alloy of copper and zinc.) Many brass instruments are silver-plated (sterling silver on brass), and some are gold-plated.

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Now, the so-called French national champion is likely to find itself locking horns with New York-based Pfizer (nyse: PFE - news - people ), the world's largest drugmaker, which itself was created through a series of mergers.

FORBES: Pfizer's New Foe