The Seasons (Haydn) France or French people; Haydn in fact had friendly relationships with French musicians (see, e.g. Paris symphonies). Rather, Haydn was probably referring to an earlier attempt by van Swieten to persuade him to set the croaking of the frogs by showing him a work by the French composer André Grétry that likewise included frog-croaking. Although the work has always attracted far less attention than "The Creation", it nonetheless has been strongly appreciated by critics. Charles Rosen calls both oratorios "among the greatest works of the century", but judges "The Seasons" to be the musically more successful of the two. Daniel
Chaos and Creation in the Backyard BBC, Daryl Easlea described "Chaos and Creation" as "Very, very good", and added: "'Riding To Vanity Fair', 'Too Much Rain', 'Anyway' and 'How Kind Of You' are full of subtle nuances, killer hooks and sweet surprises. They really do rank among his very best work." In "The New York Times", Jon Pareles wrote that McCartney's return to a multi-instrumentalist role "makes the songs more intimate and less conventional", while remarking of the project: "Sir Paul chose a producer who favored the experimental side: Nigel Godrich … Sir Paul also lined up his best backup band since the Beatles: himself." In