Leaving Cert Music: There were no works left unfinished after yesterday's higher-level music paper, which was "mercifully short" compared to last year, according to one student.

Teachers were delighted to see a question on Bach's Cantata Jesu, der du meine Seel, as the piece is very work-intensive and many students would have spent a long time studying it during the year. The first section awards high marks, appropriate to the length of the piece, said one teacher.

Question 2 featured an excerpt from Bohemian Rhapsody by Queen, a popular work among students, according to Ann Maxwell of Carrick-on-Shannon Community School. Students were asked to describe the opening piano accompaniment and to explore how the music reflects the lyrics in the third line, "Thunderbolt and lightning, very, very fright'ning me".

"This paper was much nicer than last year and all my students came out smiling," said Ms Maxwell. "This paper was well-paced, made good use of the students' learning and brought out the best in them. They had every opportunity to show what they know."

An excerpt from Romeo and Juliet Fantasy Overture by Tchaikovsky turned up in section three, and students were happy to comment on what is a much-loved work on the syllabus.

Students were also asked for their personal response to Gerald Barry's Piano Quartet No 1.

In the Irish section, they listened to traditional Irish excerpts and were asked to discuss the influence of Irish traditional music on the music of North America, referring to performers and to specific musical examples.

The paper closed with two excerpts from Michelle, the song by Lennon and McCartney.