For (Lambda) a real, diagonal matrix of simple spectrum, we consider O(lambda), the isospectral manifold of real, symmetric matrices conjugate to (Lambda), and (Tau)(Lambda), the isospectral manifold of tridiagonal matrices in O(Lambda).We compute the homologies of both manifolds, combining techniques of Morse theory and integrable systems. As a consequence, we show that the immersion of O(Lambda) in the vector space of real symmetric matrices is tight and taut, a fact with implications in numerical spectral theory.