Breakdown of Композитор написал этот аккорд в 1930 году.
этот
this [f: эта, n: это]
год
year
написать
to write (perfective)
в
on / during (a time period)
Questions & Answers about Композитор написал этот аккорд в 1930 году.
How exactly do you read aloud "в 1930 году"?
It is read as в тысяча девятьсот тридцатом году. When saying a year with the preposition в, only the very last word takes the Prepositional case form (тридцатом). The rest of the number remains in the Nominative case (тысяча девятьсот).
Why does the word год change to году instead of the standard Prepositional ending годе?
The noun год is one of a specific group of short masculine nouns that take an -у ending (often called the Locative or Second Prepositional case) when used with the prepositions в or на to indicate time or location.
Why do we use the perfective verb написал instead of the imperfective писал?
We use the perfective написал because the focus is on a single, completed action with a concrete result (the chord was successfully written). You would only use писал if you wanted to emphasize the ongoing process ("he was writing it") during that year.
Why doesn't the phrase этот аккорд change its ending, since it is the direct object?
Because аккорд is an inanimate masculine noun. For inanimate masculine nouns, the Accusative case is completely identical to the Nominative case, and this rule applies to its modifier этот as well.