Gretchen Ehrenberg wrote in reply to Walter Meyer:

>The most frequently quoted Korean folk tune is called Arirang.  There
>was a famous version of it on a KOCH recording, with Conductor Vakhtang
>Jordania Koch Int'l Classics - #7208

I've not heard the piece myself in its entirety, but I do recognize that
the folk tune used by Chance is indeed "Arirang".  Here's a web-available
translation of the first two stanzas:

Arirang, arirang, arariyo,
Arirang kokearo naumawkanda

Na reul pauriko kasineun nimeun
Simnido moskasaw palpyaungnanda

(Walking over the peak at Arirang
you left me behind.
You will be tired before you reach one mile.

Walking over the peak at Arirang
the sorrows in my heart
are as many as the stars in the sky).

Evidently, these Variations won the 1966 Ostwald Award of the American
Bandmasters Association.

You can hear a small snippet of the work, with the main melody, at
this website:

   http://www.lib.umd.edu/PAL/SCPA/ABA/Ostwald/chance.html

Bill H.