Ken Russell reads an illustrated story of Ralph Vaughan Williams' life to his daughter Molly.

The composer's widow Ursula emerges from a cave to be greeted by thunderous waves and the opening of the Sea Symphony. She describes her husband's musical influences, especially the poetry of Walt Whitman, which provided the symphony's choral text.

Russell, who has been filming her, explains that he is exploring the nine ages of Vaughan Williams through his symphonies. Ursula checks with production assistant Jenny King to make sure she said everything in the script, filling in a few additional details. Cameraman Mike Humphreys asks Russell why she had to emerge from a cave, and Russell explains that it represented Vaughan Williams escaping from the ghost of Brahms.

Ursula describes Vaughan Williams' research into English hymns, which led to his discovery of the music that inspired his Fantasia on a Theme of Thomas Tallis. He gave similar treatment to Greensleeves, a rather more famous tune. Like many of his contemporaries, Vaughan Williams was very interested in English folk songs, a largely oral tradition that was disappearing thanks to greater literacy. This became a key part of Vaughan Williams' musical language.

His second symphony was inspired by London. Russell and Ursula drive past Big Ben, whose chimes are quoted in the music, and walk through Bloomsbury Square while discussing the other ingredients. The symphony continues to play over other London images, including Heaven nightclub, where Russell and Ursula dance to her husband's music alongside assorted punks and New Romantics.

Ursula walks across a former battlefield and a tank drives past, driven by Russell and stocked with Beaujolais. His crew drinks a toast to Vaughan Williams, accompanied by the composer's bucolic music. Russell dances with Molly, to whom he tells the story of Vaughan Williams's service during World War I.

Russell and Ursula go to Gloucester, where his Pastoral Symphony was written, and discuss The Lark Ascending with violinist Iona Brown, who performs it in the cathedral and the surrounding countryside.

Upstairs in Vaughan Williams' house, a recording of the Fourth Symphony is played while various composer-related artifacts are filmed by Russell's crew. Downstairs, Russell discusses the symphony with Sir David Willcocks, Director of the Royal College of Music and a frequent Vaughan Williams conductor. Evelyn, widow of conductor John Barbirolli and a close friend of Vaughan Williams, reminisces about playing his Oboe Concerto, and then listens to her recording. The composer Elizabeth Maconchy, a former Vaughan Williams pupil, explains why the Fourth Symphony is her favourite of all his works, and discusses how it reflects the composer's socialist beliefs.

In the Bovington Tank Museum, Russell and Ursula discuss the pacifist choral piece Dona nobis pacem and the Fifth Symphony, often cited as another pacifist work but actually a pilgrimage. It plays while Russell and his crew walk along a winding hillside road to another location. Ursula interviews conductor Vernon Handley about the Sixth Symphony, whose first movement he performs with the London Philharmonic Orchestra.

Russell and Ursula watch Scott of the Antarctic, whose Vaughan Williams score was subsequently turned into his Seventh Symphony, Sinfonia Antartica. Russell is unimpressed by the film, and thinks the penguins give the best performances. Ursula explains that her husband was trying to capture the feeling of coldness and desolation. Family photographs of Ralph and Ursula Vaughan Williams accompany a discussion of the Eighth Symphony, which he was writing at the time of their marriage. Russell and Ursula watch a performance at the Royal Festival Hall.

Russell tells Molly about Vaughan Williams' love of conducting amateur choirs, which he continued into his eighties, until he became too deaf. On his 85th birthday he attends a conference at the Royal Festival Hall. Russell talks to Ursula about her own involvement with her husband's music, including adapting Homer's Odyssey for his Four Last Songs. Peter Savidge sings 'Menelaus'.

Walking through Stonehenge, a key inspiration for the Ninth Symphony, Ursula describes its composition, and how it sums up her husband's life and interests while seeming to reach out into new territory. Russell tells Molly that he lived just long enough to hear it, and explains the etymology of the word "swansong".